Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Below: maps from 1973 on and the census since 1930.
Manvel dates its founding to 1881 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1930.
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 Manvel’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Manvel.
The first settlement at Manvel was made in the 1860s on a stagecoach route. Manvel was laid out in 1881 when the railroad was extended to that point. The city was named for a Great Northern Railway passenger agent named Allen A. Manvel. A post office has been in operation at Manvel since 1882.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Manvel. 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 Manvel.
Grew from 183 people in 1930 to 377 in 2020.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Manvel’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Manvel itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1881, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Manvel’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1930 counted 183 people here.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
