Belton dates to 1850, and 41 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #116 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Belton was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. 41 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 46 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Belton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belton is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #116 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belton’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 Belton’s 39.4 sits above most of its state (93% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 96 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% 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 (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1850.
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 →
What stands out about Belton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Belton and Bell County have been the site of human habitation since at least 6000 BCE. Evidence of early inhabitants, including campsites, kitchen middens and burial mounds from the late prehistoric era have been discovered in the Stillhouse Hollow Lake and Belton Lake areas. The earliest identifiable inhabitants were the Tonkawa, who traditionally followed buffalo by foot. Belton was also home to the Lipan Apache, Wacos, Nadaco, Kiowas and Comanche. By the 1840s most tribes had been pushed out by settlements, but skirmishes with the Comanche continued until the early 1870s.
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.
In 1850, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Belton’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1870 counted 281 people here.
How does Belton rank for history?
Belton is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #116 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 Belton?
41 listings: 38 buildings, among them the Old St. Luke's Episcopal Church (listed 1974, the first), 1 historic district, the Belton Commercial Historic District, with 46 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 96 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Belton?
5% of Belton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (41), 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.
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