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B+History
History · Anahuac

Anahuac’s post office opened in 1838, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Anahuac was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listings are the Chambersea, the Chambers County Courthouse and the Fort Anahuac. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1942 on, and the census since 1950.

1838first post office
3on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Anahuac’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Anahuac began

When was Anahuac founded?

1838

The Anahuac post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Chambersia (1846), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,284 in 19502020 census: 1,980188 years

How historic is Anahuac?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Anahuac’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Anahuac is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. 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 Anahuac’s overall grade.
Founding era1838, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19404.7% of homes (±4.0) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register3 listings, 10.4 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
NewerOlder

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 Anahuac’s 10.4 sits above most of its state (87% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 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 Anahuac’s past

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

Mystery photos7 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.Deep rootsA post office since 1838: 188 years of Anahuac.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Anahuac’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Anahuac’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo7 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMexica woman codex tudela: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Anahuac, 1838 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1838Post officeThe Anahuac post office opens
  3. 1846Post officeThe Chambersia post office opens
  4. 1860Post officeThe Chambersia post office closes
  5. 1871Born hereFlorence M. Sterling is born here
  6. 1875Born hereRoss S. Sterling is born here
  7. 20th century
  8. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Anahuac came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Anahuac.

Read it all →

The Mexican term Anahuac comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. The name means "place beside the waters." Anáhuac is the pre-Columbian name of the Valley of Mexico and its former lake basins around Mexico City, often including the Lerma and Pánuco river systems. Despite the name, neither the city of Anahuac, Texas, nor the immediate region were ever part of the Aztec Empire.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Anahuac, decade by decade

Date unknown7 to date
Mexica woman codex tudelaDate?Mexica woman codex tudelaAnahuacTXSignDate?AnahuacTXSignAnahuachighSchoolTXDate?AnahuachighSchoolTXChambers County Law Enforcement CenterDate?Chambers County Law Enforcement CenterChambersCountyLibraryAnahuacDate?ChambersCountyLibraryAnahuacLoneStarCanalSignAnahuacDate?LoneStarCanalSignAnahuacGeneral Thomas Jefferson Chambers House, Cummings StreetDate?General Thomas Jefferson Chambers House, Cummings Str…
Today8 recent
Turtle Bayou Landing2022Turtle Bayou LandingWilliam Barret Travis Historical Marker2015William Barret Travis Historical MarkerTrinity River in Anahuac TX DSC 6316 ad2014Trinity River in Anahuac TX DSC 6316 adAnahuac TX Nicholas Schilling Office and General Thomas Jefferson Chambers House DSC 6308 ad2014Anahuac TX Nicholas Schilling Office and General Thom…Anahuac TX Houses along Wilcox Street DSC 6310 ad2014Anahuac TX Houses along Wilcox Street DSC 6310 adGeneral Thomas Jefferson Chambers House2012General Thomas Jefferson Chambers HouseFort2010FortTXMap-doton-Anahuac2004TXMap-doton-Anahuac
On the map

Anahuac on the map, 1942 to 1993

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

Anahuac on the 1942 USGS mapAnahuac on the 1961 USGS mapAnahuac on the 1974 USGS mapAnahuac on the 1993 USGS map1942Anahuac 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 Anahuac.

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.

Mexica woman codex tudela
Retake this viewMexica woman codex tudela

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Anahuac

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Chambersea
ChamberseaChambers County CourthouseFort Anahuac
BuildingsSites

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Moderne1
ChamberseaGreek Revival
Chambers County CourthouseModerne
All 3 listings
Fort AnahuacSite · listed 1981

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

People over time

Anahuac, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001960198020002020Peak: 2,243

Between 1,284 and 2,243 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Anahuac

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

See all →
Ross S. SterlingAmerican politician · b. 1875
Florence M. SterlingBusinesswoman, Journalist · b. 1871
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Anahuac’s post office has been open since 1838. Another post office, Chambersia, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Anahuac
1838–today
Chambersia
1846–1860
18301930today

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

Questions about Anahuac’s history

What year was Anahuac founded?

The Anahuac post office opened in 1838, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Anahuac rank for history?

Anahuac is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns. 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 Anahuac?

Three places: the Chambersea (listed 1979), the Chambers County Courthouse (2008) and the Fort Anahuac (1981).

How old are the homes in Anahuac?

5% of Anahuac’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 (14), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.