History · Alvin

Alvin’s post office opened in 1881, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #217 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Alvin was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the Alvin Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Passenger Depot. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1890.

1881first post office

1on the National Register

3%homes built before 1940

8old photos & papers

8famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

Quick answers

How Alvin began

When was Alvin founded?

1881

The Alvin post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1893. Another post office, Iowa Colony (1919), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 261 in 18902020 census: 27,098145 years

How historic is Alvin?

More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Alvin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1893.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Alvin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alvin is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #217 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alvin’s overall grade.

Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19402.7% of homes (±1.3) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C⁻National Register1 listing, 0.4 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 34%

NewerOlder

Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 66%

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 Alvin’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (70% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1893 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 Alvin’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Famous sons and daughtersSavion Flagg, Joe Ferguson and 6 more were born here.

★ What stands out · Famous people

8 famous people were born in Alvin

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

See all →

Savion FlaggAmerican basketball player · b. 1999

Joe FergusonAmerican football player · b. 1950

Reid RyanAmerican baseball player and executive · b. 1971

George LayneAmerican football player · b. 1978

Larry Wade CarrellAmerican actor, writer and director · b. 1971

Gary KeithleyAmerican football player · b. 1951

The story

How Alvin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alvin.

Read it all →

The Alvin area was settled in the mid-19th century when bull ranches were established in the area. The Santa Fe Railroad eventually expanded into the area, and a settlement was established along the railroad. Alvin was originally named "Morgan" by the town's residents in honor of the settlement's original resident, Santa Fe employee Alvin Morgan; upon discovery that the name Morgan had been taken, the town named itself after Morgan's first name. The town was officially incorporated in 1893, making it the oldest incorporated settlement in Brazoria County. Alvin Morgan received a land grant from the state of Texas prior to 1891.

Alvin was a sundown town in the 1930s, where practically no African Americans were allowed to live.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alvin, 1881 to 1999

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

19th century
1881Post officeThe Alvin post office opens
1897In the archive[Galveston Tribune Supplement for The Alvin Sun] (Galveston, Tex.) Friday, October 29, 18…
20th century
1919Post officeThe Iowa Colony post office opens
1950Born hereJoe Ferguson is born here
1956Post officeThe Iowa Colony post office closes
1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1971Born hereReid Ryan is born here
1978Born hereGeorge Layne is born here
1999Born hereSavion Flagg is born here

By decade

Alvin, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s8 items

[Galveston Tribune Supplement for The Alvin Sun] (Galveston, Tex.) Friday, October 29, 1897

1897[Galveston Tribune Supplement for The Alvin Sun] (Gal…

1900s–1990snothing yet

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.

Today4 recent

2004TXMap-doton-Alvin

On the map

Alvin on the map, 1956 to 1974

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

1956Algoa 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 Alvin.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this view[Galveston Tribune Supplement for The Alvin Sun] (Galveston, Tex.) Friday, October 29, 1897, 1897

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Alvin’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 historic place in Alvin

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

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2019

Alvin Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Passe…

Buildings

All 1 listings

Alvin Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Passenger DepotBuilding · listed 2019

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

People over time

Alvin, census by census

Grew from 261 people in 1890 to 27,098 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Alvin’s post office has been open since 1881. Another post office, Iowa Colony, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alvin

1881–today

Iowa Colony

1919–1956

18801950today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Iowa Colony

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alvin

ConfederateOak Park

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

Help out

Finish Alvin’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old view[Galveston Tribune Supplement for The A…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

ManvelIts storyC⁻PearlandIts storyD Iowa ColonyIts storyD Hitchcock1 historic placeB⁻RosharonIts storyD⁻FriendswoodIts storyD Hillcrest VillageIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alvin’s history

What year was Alvin founded?

The Alvin post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1893.

How does Alvin rank for history?

Alvin is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #217 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 Alvin?

One place: the Alvin Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Passenger Depot (listed 2019).

How old are the homes in Alvin?

3% of Alvin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1985.

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), 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.

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