Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Florida dates its founding to 1793 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Florida is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #249 of 758 in New York. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Florida’s 29.7 sits near the middle of its state (61% of New York towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Florida’s history is told.
Florida had its own post office from 1811 to 1824. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Florida. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Florida.
From Wikipedia’s history of Florida.
The first recorded contact by Europeans with local Mohawk people, who had occupied the area for centuries, was the 1642 visit of Jesuit missionaries to the village Tionondoroge (in one of its variations). After failing to Christianize the Mohawk, forces from French Canada twice attacked the village in 1667 and 1693 during rising conflict with the people in the valley.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Florida, cut from the printed page as they were published.
~ Don GONZALO PEREZ, Secretary of the Council of the Indies, at the same time he presented the above to the President, laid before him a memorandum from King to Florida, and whether the French can take possession of that country and build forts there. The Council informed the King that his title to the country of Florida is clear and indisputable, and founded on the gift of Pope ALEXANDER VI.,* and the taking possession of that country by Governor-General Don ANGEL * In 1496, the English, emulous of the discoveries and maritime glory of Spain and Portugal, and indifferent to the Pope’s charter of donation, fitted out
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
mined not to give up the search for DE Soro, touched at Vera Cruz, where they learned of the death of Dr Soto upon the A/7ssissippt, and that only three hundred of his men had reached Mexico. Notwithstanding the failure of DE Soro to establish a colony in Florida, the religious zeal of the Franciscans still remained unabated, to plant a coiony and Christianize the natives. They consequently addressed a memorial to the Emperor, setting forth the great richness of Florida, and the immense benefits which would result to the cause of religion and the empire from its acquisition. The Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereAbram Newkirk Littlejohn is born here
In the archiveFlorida Montgomery Co. (Township); Fort Hunter (Village); Fort Hunter Business Directory
BuiltAmsterdam City Hall is built
Born hereWilliam Thomas Byrne is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
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 · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 5,214 in 1840; 2,667 people lived here in 2020.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Florida’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1793, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Florida’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1820 counted 2,743 people here.
Florida is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #249 of 758 in New York. 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.
Two places: the Erie Canal (listed 1966) and the Amsterdam City Hall (2001).
36% of Florida’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1964.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2022
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★ Landmark