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CHistory
History · Lakeland

Lakeland’s post office opened in 1925, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #158 of 263 in Georgia. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Lanier County Auditorium and Grammar School. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1910.

1925first post office
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lakeland began

When was Lakeland founded?

1925

The Lakeland post office opened in 1925, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Milltown (1857), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,247 in 19102020 census: 2,875101 years

How historic is Lakeland?

C

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lakeland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lakeland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lakeland is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #158 of 263 in Georgia. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lakeland’s overall grade.
Founding era1925, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194013.9% of homes (±8.5) · typical GA town 3.8% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 6.7 per 10,000 residents · typical GA town 10.0 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%
NewerOlder
Georgia towns of 2,500+ (263)Ahead of 40%

Georgia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Georgia town has 10.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lakeland’s 6.7 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Georgia towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Lakeland’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lakeland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lakeland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lakeland’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lakeland, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5001920194019601980200020201,247 in 1910Low: 860

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1920, then grew 3-fold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lakeland’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Lakeland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lakeland.

Read it all →

By the late 1830s, a community known as Alapaha had come into existence along the road from Waresboro, Georgia, to Troupville, Georgia, near the mill established by Joshua Lee on what is now Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge. In 1838, a post office was established and was officially named Alapaha after the nearby Alapaha River. In 1848, Joshua Lee sold his mill to William Lastinger. In the 1850s, additional mills were established in the area and the population of the community continued to grow. In 1857, Alapaha was renamed Milltown. During the American Civil, William Lastinger sold his mill to Henry Banks. Milltown was incorporated in 1901. In 1919, Milltown was designated seat of the newly formed Lanier County. In 1928, the city was incorporated and renamed to its present form of Lakeland.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lakeland, 1857 to 2010

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Milltown post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1925Born hereRobert L. Patten is born here
  5. 1925Post officeThe Milltown post office closes
  6. 1925Post officeThe Lakeland post office opens
  7. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 3,366
By decade

Lakeland, decade by decade

Today18 recent
V.L. Moore Field memorial2022V.L. Moore Field memorialR.O. Berryhill field2022R.O. Berryhill fieldR.O. Berryhill Field memorial2022R.O. Berryhill Field memorialMartin Luther King, Jr. park2022Martin Luther King, Jr. parkLittle Free Library, Lakeland softball fields2022Little Free Library, Lakeland softball fieldsBatting cages, Lakeland softball fields2022Batting cages, Lakeland softball fieldsLakeland city limit GA135 SB2021Lakeland city limit GA135 SBGA135 Bypass at GA1352021GA135 Bypass at GA135James Slaton Jay Shaw Memorial Highway, GA312017James Slaton Jay Shaw Memorial Highway, GA31Lakeland city limit, US129eb2016Lakeland city limit, US129ebDistance marker in2016Distance marker inRev Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial2015Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. memorialLakeland Lanier Fire Rescue Helipad2015Lakeland Lanier Fire Rescue HelipadLakeland border, GA122eb2014Lakeland border, GA122ebWelcome to Lakeland Georgia's Historic Mural City2013Welcome to Lakeland Georgia's Historic Mural CityMain St2013Main StLanier County Historical Marker2012Lanier County Historical MarkerGAMap-doton-Lakeland2005GAMap-doton-Lakeland
On the map

Lakeland on the map, 1968 to 1979

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lakeland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lakeland on the 1968 USGS mapLakeland on the 1979 USGS map1968Lakeland sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lakeland.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Lakeland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1986
Lanier County Auditorium and Grammar School
Lanier County Auditorium and Grammar School
Buildings
Lanier County Auditorium and Grammar SchoolBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Lakeland’s post office has been open since 1925. Another post office, Milltown, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Milltown
1857–1925
Lakeland
1925–today
18501940today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lakeland’s history

What year was Lakeland founded?

The Lakeland post office opened in 1925, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lakeland rank for history?

Lakeland is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #158 of 263 in Georgia. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Lakeland?

One place: the Lanier County Auditorium and Grammar School (listed 1986).

How old are the homes in Lakeland?

14% of Lakeland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 3.8% for a Georgia town; the median home was built in 1984.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.