Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the newest of U.S. towns · #618 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Bee Cave was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2012. Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1990.
Bee Cave dates its founding to 1987 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1990.
Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bee Cave is among the newest of U.S. towns, #618 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Bee Cave’s 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: Wikidata (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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bee Cave’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Bee Cave.
Bee Cave was named by early settlers for a large cave of wild bees found near the site. A post office opened there under the name Bee Caves in 1870. The city was incorporated in 1987. Since April 2023, Bee Cave has been designated as an International Dark-Sky Community, making Bee Cave the seventh city in Texas and the 39th in the world with this distinction.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bee Cave. 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 Bee Cave.
Grew from 241 people in 1990 to 9,144 in 2020, more than tenfold.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bee Cave’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Bee Cave itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Bee Caves, 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).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1987, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bee Cave’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1990 counted 241 people here.
Bee Cave is among the newest of U.S. towns, #618 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.
0.0% of Bee Cave’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2012.
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), Wikipedia, 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.
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