Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #321 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Aransas Pass was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1910.
The Aransas Pass post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Aransas Harbor (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aransas Pass is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #321 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Aransas Pass’ 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Aransas Pass’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Aransas Harbor, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Aransas Pass. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Aransas Pass.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Aransas Pass yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Aransas Pass ( ə-RAN-zəs) is a city in Aransas, Nueces, and San Patricio counties in Texas, United States. The population was 7,941 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 8,204 to 7,941 (-3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Aransas Pass, cut from the printed page as they were published.
“Respectfully returned to the Secretary of War, The River and Harbor Act of Mar. 3, 1899, contains the following item: “Improving Aransas Pass, Texas. For dredging and other improve¬ ments of Aransas Pass Harbor, sixty thousand dollars; Provided, that the Secretary of War is hereby authorized to contract for the removal of that portion of the old Government jetty in said harbor from the end nearest to the curved jetty constructed by the Aransas Pass Harbor Company to the wreck Mary, in such manner as to in no wise interfere with the curved
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In consideration of this contract, the said Haupt shall surrender all hi* patent rights to this improvement at Aransas Pass and make no claim for its use or for damages. He shall further remove the obstructing old Gov¬ ernment jetty and complete the breakwater as designed for the Aransas Pass Harbor Company in 1895.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveAransas Pass, Texas, Taken by the Union forces under Maj. Gen. Banks, Nov. 17th., 1863 . …
In the archiveTexas
In the archiveAransas Pass, Texas, Taken by the Union forces under Maj. Gen. Banks, Nov. 17th., 1863 . …
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Texas - Aransas County - ED 4-1, ED 4-2, ED 4-3, …
In the archiveBay-View Hotel, Aransas Pass, TX (postcard back)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMickey Sullivan is born here5 decades in the archive, from the 1810s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1915Sheet 1 of 6Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Aransas Pass’ page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,197 and 8,204 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Aransas Pass’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Aransas Pass post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Aransas Pass is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #321 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.
4% of Aransas Pass’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1991.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1893