Founding year: the first Benavides post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Benavides’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Benavides is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Benavides’ 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 Benavides’ 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.4 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 Benavides’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town is named after Plácido Benavides (1837–1919), namesake nephew of Plácido Benavides (1810–1837), Tejano 1832 alcalde of Victoria, who served under Stephen F. Austin with Juan Seguin, in the Siege of Béxar.
Plácido Benavides whom the town is named after served in the Confederate States Army. After the war, he built his "Rancho Palo Alto" into one of the largest ranches in Duval County. In 1880, he agreed to let the county locate a railroad station on his property. In 1881, he donated 80 acres (32 ha) to establish the community that grew up around the station on the Texas Mexican Railway.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Benavides’ history
What year was Benavides founded?
The Benavides post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Benavides rank for history?
Benavides is more historic than 30% 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.
How old are the homes in Benavides?
10% of Benavides’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 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.
