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CHistory
History · Allen

Allen’s post office opened in 1876, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #271 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Allen was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1880.

1876first post office
1on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
20famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Allen began

When was Allen founded?

1876

The Allen post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1953.

First census: 96 in 18802020 census: 104,627150 years

How historic is Allen?

C

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Allen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1953.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Allen’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Allen is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #271 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Allen’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.4) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.1 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 27%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 58%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Allen ranks #326 on History.

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 Allen’s 0.1 sits above most of its state (68% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Allen’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

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; Wikidata gives 1953.

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 Allen’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 Allen are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Famous sons and daughtersJim Parrack, Matt Barr and 18 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Allen’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Allen’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
Famous people

20 famous people were born in Allen

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

See all →
Jim ParrackAmerican actor · b. 1981
M
Matt BarrAmerican actor · b. 1984
Jaylon TysonAmerican basketball player · b. 2002
Jonathan Patrick McCartyRoad bicycle racer · b. 1982
Isaiah StevensAmerican basketball player · b. 2000
B
Bobby EvansAmerican football player · b. 1997
The story

How Allen came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Allen.

Read it all →

Before American settlement, the area was home to the Caddo, Comanche and other Indigenous peoples. Collin County was first settled between 1840 and 1860. The county was formed in 1846 from part of Fannin County, land that had been part of the Peters Colony. A 1998 Texas Historical Commission marker says fertile land and plentiful water drew settlers to the Allen area from the 1840s. It also says the area was well populated by 1876, when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a water supply stop on Cottonwood Creek.

ChaptersEarly history and the railroadSuburban growth2023 shootingRecent years

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Allen, 1876 to 2002

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Allen post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1981Born hereJim Parrack is born here
  6. 1982Born hereJonathan Patrick McCarty is born here
  7. 1984Born hereMatt Barr is born here
  8. 21st century
  9. 2002Born hereJaylon Tyson is born here
By decade

Allen, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Dallas Sidekicks team - 30 November 20122012Dallas Sidekicks team - 30 November 2012Dallas Sidekicks championship banners - 30 November 20122012Dallas Sidekicks championship banners - 30 November 2…Allen, Texas Train Water Station2012Allen, Texas Train Water StationLowery Freshman Center2009Lowery Freshman CenterAllen High School2006Allen High SchoolPalmer05wilke d2005Palmer05wilke d
On the map

Allen on the map, 1929 to 1973

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Allen. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Allen on the 1929 USGS mapAllen on the 1960 USGS mapAllen on the 1973 USGS map1929McKinney sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Allen.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Allen

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2009
Allen Water Station
Allen Water Station
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Dam1
Bridge1
Allen Water StationDam

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Allen, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,00018801900192019401960198020002020104,627

Grew from 96 people in 1880 to 104,627 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Allen’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Allen’s post office has been open since 1876.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Forest GroveWetsel
Gone or out of use
Kittyhawk Airportairport
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Allen
AllenRidgeview Memorial ParkStimson

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Plano3 historic placesCLucasIts storyC−Fairview1 historic placeC−ParkerIts storyDMcKinney57 historic placesB+

Questions about Allen’s history

What year was Allen founded?

The Allen post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1953.

How does Allen rank for history?

Allen is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #271 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.

What is on the National Register in Allen?

One place: the Allen Water Station (listed 2009).

How old are the homes in Allen?

0.3% of Allen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2003.

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.