Baytown’s post office opened in 1859, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #200 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Baytown was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the K'nesseth Israel Synagogue. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1950.
The Baytown post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Cedar Bayou (1870), Wooster (1894) and Goose Creek (1913), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 22,983 in 19502020 census: 83,701167 years
How historic is Baytown?
C+
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Baytown post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Baytown’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Baytown is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #200 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Baytown’s 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 Baytown’s 0.2 sits above most of its state (69% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±0.9 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 Baytown’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Baytown’s post office has been open since 1859. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Baytown
1859–today
Cedar Bayou
1870–1954
Wooster
1894–1914
Goose Creek
1913–1948
Pelly
1927–1948
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AllenbrookBrownwoodCedar BayouChaparral VillageCountry Club CoveCountry Club EstatesCountry Club GardensCountry Club OaksDecker TerraceGinger GreenPellyQuail HollowRoseland ManorSan Jacinto PlaceWooster
Gone or out of use
Goose Creek Oil Fieldoilfield
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Baytown
BuschGaillard-MitchellHill of RestMorgan
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Baytown on the map, 1916 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Baytown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Morgan Point 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 Baytown.
Famous people
26 famous people were born in Baytown
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
White American settlers first arrived in the now-Baytown area in 1822. One of its earliest settlers was Nathaniel Lynch, who set up a ferry crossing at the junction of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. The still-operating ferry service is known as the Lynchburg Ferry. Other early settlers of Baytown included William Scott, one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred, and Ashbel Smith, who owned a plantation in the area.
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.
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 Baytown post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Baytown rank for history?
Baytown is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #200 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 Baytown?
One place: the K'nesseth Israel Synagogue (listed 2024).
How old are the homes in Baytown?
3% of Baytown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (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) 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.
1917
1919
1919