More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #400 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Aldine was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1980.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aldine is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #400 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Aldine’s overall grade.
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 Aldine’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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. 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 Aldine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Aldine, built on the International–Great Northern Railroad, was named after a local farm family . A post office operated in Aldine from 1896 to 1935; after 1935, mail was delivered from Houston. In 1914 Aldine included two general stores, a fig preserver, and several poultry breeders and several dairymen. The population briefly reached 100 in 1925. In the 1930s and 1940s the population decreased to between thirty and forty residents. The Aldine Independent School District was integrated by federal order in 1965. Aldine, with renewed population growth in the 1970s, had 12,623 residents in 1986 and 11,133 residents in 1990.
Between 11,133 and 15,999 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Aldine’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Aldine’s history
What year was Aldine founded?
The Aldine post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Aldine rank for history?
Aldine is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #400 of 642 in Texas. 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 Aldine?
0.3% of Aldine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (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) 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.
Date?
2005