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A−History
History · Bellville

Bellville’s post office opened in 1849, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #38 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Bellville was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

1849first post office
4on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bellville began

When was Bellville founded?

1849

The Bellville post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 500 in 18802020 census: 4,206177 years

How historic is Bellville?

A−

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Bellville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bellville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bellville is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #38 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bellville’s overall grade.
Founding era1849, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19408.5% of homes (±4.6) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register4 listings, 9.5 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 76%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 94%

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 Bellville’s 9.5 sits above most of its state (86% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±4.6 points). 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 Bellville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1912, drew every building in Bellville.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Bellville.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bellville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBellville Countryman: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Bellville, building by building, 1885–1912

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.

Bellville 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.

Timeline

Bellville, 1849 to 1987

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1849Post officeThe Bellville post office opens
  3. 1868In the archiveBellville Countryman
  4. 1883Born hereAlfred C. Finn is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1932Born hereJuke Boy Bonner is born here
  7. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1972Born hereHunter Goodwin is born here
  9. 1987Born hereEmmanuel Sanders is born here
The story

How Bellville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bellville.

Read it all →

Bellville was named for Thomas B. Bell, one of Stephen F. Austin's earliest colonists, after his brother and he donated land for the new county seat established by voters in 1846. San Felipe had been the county seat before the war for independence.

From 1860 to 1869, The Bellville Countryman served as Bellville's newspaper, and was published by John Patterson Osterhout.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bellville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Bellville Countryman1868Bellville Countryman
Today5 recent
Bellville TX Hospital2013Bellville TX HospitalBellville TX Holland St2013Bellville TX Holland StBellville TX City Hall2013Bellville TX City HallBellville TX City Hall Marker2013Bellville TX City Hall MarkerOld masonic hall 20082008Old masonic hall 2008
On the map

Bellville on the map, 1956 to 1981

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

Bellville on the 1956 USGS mapBellville on the 1981 USGS map1956Bellville sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bellville Countryman
Retake this viewBellville Countryman, 1868

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bellville’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

4 historic places in Bellville

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Austin County Jail
Austin County JailOld Masonic HallAustin County CourthouseBellville Turnverein
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque Revival1
Austin County JailRomanesque Revival
Old Masonic HallBuilding
Austin County CourthouseBuilding
All 4 listings
Bellville TurnvereinBuilding · listed 2024

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

People over time

Bellville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500188019001920194019601980200020204,206

Grew from 500 people in 1880 to 4,206 in 2020, 8 times over.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Bellville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Emmanuel SandersAmerican football player · b. 1987
Juke Boy BonnerAmerican blues singer, harmonica player, and gu… · b. 1932
A
Alfred C. FinnAmerican architect · b. 1883
Hunter GoodwinPlayer of American football · b. 1972
J
Johnny HollandAll-American college football player, professio… · b. 1965
Beau BellAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Bellville’s post office has been open since 1849.

Gone or out of use
Austin County CourthousebuildingAustin County Jailbuilding
1cemetery inside Bellville
Oak Knoll

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Bellville’s history

What year was Bellville founded?

The Bellville post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Bellville rank for history?

Bellville is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #38 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 Bellville?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Austin County Jail (listed 1980, the first).

How old are the homes in Bellville?

9% of Bellville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1969.

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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.