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Downtown Alvarado (1 of 1)Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
C−History
History · Alvarado

Alvarado’s post office opened in 1854

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #378 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Alvarado was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.

1854first post office
0on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Alvarado began

When was Alvarado founded?

1854

The Alvarado post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1885.

First census: 377 in 18802020 census: 4,739172 years

How historic is Alvarado?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Alvarado post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1885.
History grade

What drives Alvarado’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alvarado is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #378 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alvarado’s overall grade.
Founding era1854, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.7% of homes (±0.9) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 41%

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 Alvarado’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 (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1885 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Alvarado’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 Alvarado are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1912, drew every building in Alvarado.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alvarado’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alvarado’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
Every building

Alvarado, building by building, 1885–1912

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Alvarado fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Alvarado, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alvarado yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alvarado ( AL-və-RAY-doh) is the oldest city in Johnson County, Texas, United States. Its population was 4,739 in 2020. The community's first sheriff, A. H. Onstoott, is credited with naming the city for Alvarado, Veracruz, Mexico, where he fought in a battle during the Mexican–American War.

Its first post office opened in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 3,785 to 4,739 (+25%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Alvarado, 1854 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Alvarado post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1924Born hereTerry Southern is born here
  5. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alvarado, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Alvarado Texas2022Alvarado TexasAlvarado Police Week2022Alvarado Police WeekAlvarado Police Dept2022Alvarado Police DeptAlvarado National Night Out2022Alvarado National Night OutAlvarado Lake2022Alvarado LakeAlvarado City Manager2022Alvarado City ManagerAIS.ISD2022AIS.ISDDowntown Alvarado (1 of 1)2019Downtown Alvarado (1 of 1)Alvarado Methodist Church (1 of 1)2019Alvarado Methodist Church (1 of 1)2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookTexas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists building2009Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists buildingTXMap-doton-Alvarado2004TXMap-doton-Alvarado
On the map

Alvarado on the map, 1961 to 1978

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

Alvarado on the 1961 USGS mapAlvarado on the 1978 USGS map1961Alvarado sheet · 1:24,000

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

People over time

Alvarado, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,000188019001920194019601980200020204,739

Grew from 377 people in 1880 to 4,739 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

VenusIts storyC−

Questions about Alvarado’s history

What year was Alvarado founded?

The Alvarado post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1885.

How does Alvarado rank for history?

Alvarado is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #378 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 Alvarado?

0.7% of Alvarado’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1999.

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 (12), 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.