Alpine’s post office opened in 1888, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #91 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 6 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1920.
The Alpine post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Murphyville (1883), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 931 in 19202020 census: 6,035138 years
How historic is Alpine?
B
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Alpine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Alpine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alpine is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #91 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alpine’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 Alpine’s 18.3 sits above most of its state (90% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 (±3.7 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 Alpine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area had been a campsite for cattlemen tending their herds between 1878 and the spring of 1882, when a town of tents was created by railroad workers and their families. Because the section of the railroad was called Osborne, that was the name of the small community for a brief time. The railroad needed access to water from springs owned by brothers named Daniel and Thomas Murphy, so it entered into an agreement with the Murphys to change the name of the section and settlement to Murphyville in exchange for a contract to use the spring. In November 1883, the Murphys registered a plat for the town of Murphyville with the county clerk of Presidio County.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Alpine post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Alpine rank for history?
Alpine is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #91 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 Alpine?
6 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Brewster County Courthouse and Jail (listed 1978, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Grandview Courts-Siesta Motel, the Kokernot Field and the Alpine Downtown Historic District, with 6 contributing buildings. 11 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Alpine?
11% of Alpine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1913
1925
c. 1925