ORLANDO, Fla. – Everyone loves a good postcard – well, everyone of a certain age, perhaps. Think of them as a much slower text message or Instagram post proclaiming, “Hey, look where I am!”
Long before postcards showed off beaches and big cities, they were stiff, rule‑bound cards policed for size and color — until a late‑19th‑century boom turned them into one of America’s favorite ways to say hello and sparked a collecting obsession that still thrives, according to the Smithsonian Institution Archives.
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I scoured through the thousands of postcards from 1900s-1970s on the Florida Memory website so that you don’t have to because let me tell you, the site can be painstakingly slow.
So, take a glimpse into old Florida – specifically Central Florida – through the historical lens of the State Library and Archives of Florida.
OK, I didn’t scour through all 6,300 images, be sure to hop on over to the site and discover some treasures!
NOTE: The caption description is as it appears exactly on the Florida Memory website, and some dates that say “circa” are an estimate and not be very accurate, but that is how they were listed on the website.
Also of note, many of the “postcards” in the collection are just old photographs. While cool on their own, they aren’t really postcards.
Let’s start off right here in Orlando with the iconic Lake Eola. It looks just slightly different in 2026.
You can’t think of “Old Florida” without Gatorland, which opened in 1949.
While farming and fishing may look different these days, you can still find both.
Many of the scenes depicted in these classic postcards either have changed significantly or no longer exist, a sign of the ever-changing Florida landscape.
Here’s a few from downtown Orlando.
Picturesque Rollins College in Winter Park was established in 1885. Did you know that during World War I, the college established a naval unit that enabled students to take basic and advanced courses in naval training?
While not downtown Orlando, the since-closed Ben White Raceway is right up the road from News 6 and is now known as Trotters Park.
Who could forget Cypress Gardens? It’s about as old Florida as it can get. While the attraction has since closed, the botanical gardens were preserved and are now part of LEGOLAND Florida Resort.
Here are a few beautiful and colorful cards from DeLand.
Look, more of Orlando that doesn’t exist anymore!
And from beautiful downtown Mount Dora, to an award-winning brahman bull in Osceola County, enjoy these two random gems.
Back to Orlando, who doesn’t like to go fishing in your Sunday best on Lake Conway?
And Gary’s Duck Inn, the Orlando landmark that closed in 1994, was the inspiration behind the Red Lobster seafood chain, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
This is one of the more colorful cards I came across, depicting Veteran’s Memorial Park in St. Cloud, which is almost as cool as this “bathing scene” from 1912.
Sanford, at the head of the navigation on the St. Johns River, has plenty of history and was once known as the celery capital of the world.
We’ll keep it in Seminole County with something else that is no more. Sanlando Springs Tropical Park, which is now a private, gated community called The Springs.
Over in Volusia County, the iconic Hotel Ormond (or Ormond Hotel, as some say), which was built in 1887 and later purchased by Henry Flagler, stood for over 100 years. Down the road a bit was Ellinor Village, one time the largest family resort in Florida.