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BHistory
History · Brackettville

Brackettville dates to 1852, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the 1911 Kinney County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1880.

1852founded
1on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Brackettville began

When was Brackettville founded?

1852

Brackettville dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 1,126 in 18802020 census: 1,341174 years

How historic is Brackettville?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1873.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Brackettville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Brackettville is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Brackettville’s overall grade.
Founding era1852, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194014.8% of homes (±11.3) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 6.3 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder

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 Brackettville’s 6.3 sits above most of its state (83% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±11.3 points). Two sources give 1852.

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 Brackettville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Brackettville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18964 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1986. Watch Brackettville change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,653 in 1940; 1,341 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1910, drew every building in Brackettville.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Brackettville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Brackettville on the map, 1896 to 1986

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

Brackettville on the 1896 USGS mapBrackettville on the 1944 USGS mapBrackettville on the 1974 USGS mapBrackettville on the 1986 USGS map1896Brackett sheet · 1:125,000

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

People over time

Brackettville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,653

Peaked at 2,653 in 1940; 1,341 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Brackettville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brackettville.

Read it all →

Founded in 1852 as "Las Moras" (the name of a nearby spring and the creek it feeds), the town initially was a supply stop on the old San Antonio-El Paso Road and a supply depot for the U.S. Army's Fort Clark (the fort was established the same year). Later, the town was named "Brackett" after Oscar B. Brackett, the owner of the first dry-goods store in the area. In 1873, when a post office was awarded, "ville" was appended to the name to differentiate it from another town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Brackettville, 1852 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1852
    FoundingBrackettville is established
  3. 1873Post officeThe Brackettville post office opens
  4. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 2,653
By decade

Brackettville, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Time, and vines, have caught up with an abandoned building in Bracketville in Kinney County, Texas2014Time, and vines, have caught up with an abandoned bui…Animal horns serve as a fence decoration outside this property in tiny Bracketville, the county seat of Kinney County, …2014Animal horns serve as a fence decoration outside this…A black cat makes an appearance between some hay rolls outside some sheds in the little town of Bracketville in Kinney …2014A black cat makes an appearance between some hay roll…A black cat makes an appearance between some hay rolls outside some sheds in the little town of Bracketville in Kinney …2014A black cat makes an appearance between some hay roll…TXMap-doton-Brackettville2004TXMap-doton-Brackettville
Every building

Brackettville, building by building, 1894–1910

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.

Brackettville fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 11894Sheet 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.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Brackettville

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2004
1911 Kinney County Courthouse
1911 Kinney County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Beaux Arts Classicism1
All 1 listings
1911 Kinney County CourthouseBuilding · listed 2004

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

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Brackettville’s post office has been open since 1873.

5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brackettville
BallantyneKinney CountyMasonicSaint Mary Magdalene CatholicVeterans of Foreign Wars

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Fort Clark Springs1 historic placeB−

Questions about Brackettville’s history

What year was Brackettville founded?

In 1852, according to Wikidata. Brackettville’s post office opened in 1873, and the census of 1880 counted 1,126 people here.

How does Brackettville rank for history?

Brackettville is more historic than 58% 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.

What is on the National Register in Brackettville?

One place: the 1911 Kinney County Courthouse (listed 2004).

How old are the homes in Brackettville?

15% of Brackettville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.