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History · Florida

Florida dates to 1783, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Florida was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Hoosac Tunnel. Below: 5 old photos and papers from 1898 on.

1783founded
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Florida’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Florida began

When was Florida founded?

1783

Florida dates its founding to 1783 (Wikidata). Its post office opened in 1823.

2020 census: 694243 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1823.The full story ↓

What stands out about Florida’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Florida, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1783: 243 years of Florida.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Florida had its own post office from 1823 to 1900. Another post office, Hoosac Tunnel, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Florida
1823–1900
Hoosac Tunnel
1856–1960
Drury
1902–today
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DruryEastern SummitHoosac TunnelWhitcomb Summit

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

Timeline

Florida, 1783 to 1960

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1783
    FoundingFlorida is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1823Post officeThe Florida post office opens
  5. 1826Born hereHomer Franklin Bassett is born here
  6. 1850BuiltHoosac Tunnel is built
  7. 1856Post officeThe Hoosac Tunnel post office opens
  8. 1898In the archiveEast Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, Berkshire Hills, Mass
  9. 20th century
  10. 1900Post officeThe Florida post office closes
  11. 1901In the archiveEast portal of the Hoosac Tunnel undivided back postcard
  12. 1902Post officeThe Drury post office opens
  13. 1911In the archiveBoxcab at east portal of Hoosac Tunnel postcard
  14. 1960Post officeThe Hoosac Tunnel post office closes
The story

How Florida came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Florida.

Read it all →

The area was first settled by Europeans as part of the Equivalent Lands (specifically, the "Berkshire Equivalent"). Most of what is now the town of Florida, Massachusetts was originally a grant to the town of Bernardston, Massachusetts made sometime before 1771. The first settler, Dr. Daniel Nelson, arrived around 1783. The town was incorporated in 1805 and named "Florida", perhaps because Spanish Florida was a topic of conversation at the time.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Florida, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1910s5 items
East Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, Berkshire Hills, Mass1898East Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, Berkshire Hills, MassPostcardEast portal of the Hoosac Tunnel undivided back postcard1901–1907East portal of the Hoosac Tunnel undivided back postc…PostcardEast Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, North Adams, Massc. 1908East Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, North Adams, MassPostcardBoxcab at east portal of Hoosac Tunnel postcard1911–1915Boxcab at east portal of Hoosac Tunnel postcardPostcardHoosac Tunnel east portal undivided back postcard1911–1915Hoosac Tunnel east portal undivided back postcardPostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

East Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, Berkshire Hills, Mass
Retake this viewEast Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, Berkshire Hills, Mass, 1898

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Florida’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Florida

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Hoosac Tunnel
Hoosac Tunnel, built 1850
Structures
Hoosac TunnelBuilt 1850

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

Help out

Finish Florida’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEast Portal, Hoosac Tunnel, Berkshire H…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Savoy1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRoweIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCharlemont4 historic placesA+MonroeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townClarksburgIts storyA−

Questions about Florida’s history

What year was Florida founded?

In 1783, according to Wikidata. Florida’s post office opened in 1823.

What is on the National Register in Florida?

One place: the Hoosac Tunnel (listed 1973).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.