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C+History
History · Florence

Florence’s post office opened in 1857, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1857first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Florence began

When was Florence founded?

1857

The Florence post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,171169 years

How historic is Florence?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Florence’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Florence is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Florence’s overall grade.
Founding era1857, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194020.3% of homes (±9.7) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Florence’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 (±9.7 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 Florence’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 Florence are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Florence’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Florence’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
The story

How Florence came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Florence.

Read it all →

The site was settled in the early 1850s and briefly called Brooksville. By 1857, it was known as Florence, when its first post office was established.

Florence, a significant cotton-processing center, was the original destination of the Bartlett-Florence Railway, later the Bartlett Western Railroad, which ran from a connection at Bartlett with the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad to Florence. However, that line, started in 1909, was abandoned in 1935.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Florence, 1857 to 1935

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Florence post office opens
  3. 1897Born hereDavid E. Hayden is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Born hereByron George Skelton is born here
  6. 1935Born hereHubert Boales is born here
By decade

Florence, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Florence Texas VFD Burn Ban Sign2018Florence Texas VFD Burn Ban SignFlorence Texas Main Street 20182018Florence Texas Main Street 2018Florence Texas City Hall 20182018Florence Texas City Hall 2018Early Church Florence Texas Marker2018Early Church Florence Texas MarkerEarly Church Florence Texas 20182018Early Church Florence Texas 2018TXMap-doton-Florence2004TXMap-doton-Florence
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Florence

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
David E. HaydenUnited States Navy Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1897
B
Byron George SkeltonUnited States federal judge · b. 1905
H
Hubert BoalesAmerican football, baseball, and golf coach · b. 1935

Questions about Florence’s history

What year was Florence founded?

The Florence post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Florence rank for history?

Florence is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Florence?

20% of Florence’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.7 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1983.

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 (6), 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.