Amarillo’s post office opened in 1887, and 36 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #95 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Amarillo was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 36 places in town are on the National Register, among them eight historic districts with 848 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Amarillo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Amarillo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Amarillo is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #95 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Amarillo’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Amarillo ranks #209 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 Amarillo’s 43.8 sits above most of its state (94% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 884 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% 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 (±0.6 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 Amarillo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
During April 1887, John T. Berry, from Abilene, Texas, established a site for a town, choosing a well-watered section along the right-of-way of the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway that was building across the Texas Panhandle. Berry and merchants from Colorado City, Texas wanted to make his new townsite the region's main trading center. On August 30, 1887, the site won the election for a county seat to be established for Potter County. Availability of the railroad's freight service made the town a fast-growing cattle-marketing center.
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 Amarillo post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Amarillo rank for history?
Amarillo is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Amarillo?
36 listings: 28 buildings, among them the Bivins House (listed 1974, the first), and 8 historic districts with 848 contributing buildings. 884 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Amarillo?
6% of Amarillo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (36), 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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