More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #586 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Andrews was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1974 on, and the census since 1940.
Founding year: the first Andrews post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1937.
History grade
What drives Andrews’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Andrews is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #586 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Andrews’ 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 Andrews’ 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 D. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1937 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 Andrews’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Andrews yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Andrews is a city in and the county seat of Andrews County in the Permian Basin of West Texas. Andrews sits to the far southwest within the Texas Panhandle's plains, about 30 miles east of New Mexico. Andrews was incorporated on February 2, 1937. Both the city and county were named for Richard Andrews, the first Texan soldier to die in the Texas Revolution. The population was 13,487 as of 2020.
Its first post office opened in 1909. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 11,088 to 13,487 (+22%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Andrews, 1909 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Andrews post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1937.
How does Andrews rank for history?
Andrews is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #586 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 Andrews?
0.1% of Andrews’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), 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 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.
Date?
2016
2008
2008
2004
