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B+History
History · Baird

Baird dates to 1880, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Texas and Pacific Railway Depot. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1890.

1880founded
1on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Baird began

When was Baird founded?

1880

Baird dates its founding to 1880 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 850 in 18902020 census: 1,479146 years

How historic is Baird?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1881.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Baird’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Baird is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Baird’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194028.2% of homes (±8.7) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register1 listing, 6.1 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
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 Baird’s 6.1 sits above most of its state (83% 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 B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.7 points). Two sources give 1880.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Baird’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Baird are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1922, drew every building in Baird.Old housesHalf of Baird’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Baird’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Baird, building by building, 1885–1922

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 year, then a sheet.

Baird fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Baird came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Baird.

Read it all →

Baird, Texas was named after Matthew Baird, a director of the Texas and Pacific Railway. He was also sole proprietor of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the largest locomotive firm in the United States, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The city was officially founded in 1880. In 1993, the Texas Legislature designated Baird as the "Antique Capital of West Texas". It has 12 antique shops.

The former Callahan County Jail, at 100 W. 5th Street, was originally located in nearby Belle Plain, then the county seat. When the county seat moved to Baird, the jail was disassembled brick by brick, and reassembled at its current location. Belle Plain lost population and became a ghost town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Baird, 1880 to 1931

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880
    FoundingBaird is established
  3. 1881Post officeThe Baird post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1913Born hereWalter Raleigh Ely, Jr. is born here
  6. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Baird, decade by decade

Today10 recent
Former Callahan County Hospital2017Former Callahan County HospitalFirst Callahan Jail2017First Callahan JailCallahan county courthouse2017Callahan county courthouseCallahan County Texas Centennial Marker2017Callahan County Texas Centennial MarkerDowntown Baird Wiki (1 of 1)2016Downtown Baird Wiki (1 of 1)Baird Texas2012Baird TexasPresbyterian Church, Baird, TX IMG 63882010Presbyterian Church, Baird, TX IMG 6388Downtown Baird, TX IMG 63862010Downtown Baird, TX IMG 6386Callahan County, TX, Farmers Co-op IMG 63902010Callahan County, TX, Farmers Co-op IMG 6390Baird TX2005Baird TX
On the map

Baird on the map, 1931 to 1985

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

Baird on the 1931 USGS mapBaird on the 1966 USGS mapBaird on the 1985 USGS map1931Baird sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Baird.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Baird

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2012
Texas and Pacific Railway Depot
Texas and Pacific Railway Depot
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mission Revival1
Texas and Pacific Railway DepotMission Revival

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

People over time

Baird, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,965

Between 850 and 1,965 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Questions about Baird’s history

What year was Baird founded?

In 1880, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Baird’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1890 counted 850 people here.

How does Baird rank for history?

Baird is more historic than 71% 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 Baird?

One place: the Texas and Pacific Railway Depot (listed 2012).

How old are the homes in Baird?

28% of Baird’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.7 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1952.

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 (10), Wikidata (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.