De Land was founded in 1873 by Thomas E. Bondurant, a Kentucky native who bought the land from its original owner, Ezra Marquis, and had it laid out as an answer to the needs of the local farmers for a place from which to ship their grain. Before officially being named De Land, the town was known as "Tom's Town" in honor of Thomas Bondurant. The origin of the name De Land is disputed, with most accounts tracing it to either James DeLand, who helped bring the railroad to the area in 1872, or French DeLand, a surveyor who is said to have laid out the town. The village was incorporated in 1899. It has long styled itself "the biggest little town on earth," and celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2023.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of De Land. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1937Monticello sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of De Land.
Every building
De Land, building by building, 1898–1910
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1898Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
De Land, census by census
Between 411 and 542 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on De Land’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to De Land
Nobody well known was born in De Land itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2007
