Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #162 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Burnet was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Burnet County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1870.
The Burnet post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burnet is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #162 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 Burnet’s 1.5 sits above most of its state (74% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Burnet’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Burnet. 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 Burnet.
Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1920, then grew 6-fold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Burnet’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Burnet.
In December 1847, a company of the Texas Ranger Division commanded by Henry E. McCulloch established a station at the site of present-day Burnet for the protection of frontier settlers from Indian raids. In March 1849, the station was chosen as a federal fort and named Fort Croghan.
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.
Born hereAndrew Moses is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereRankin Johnson, Sr. is born here
Born hereChink Taylor is born here
BuiltBurnet County Courthouse is built
2011Hamilton Creek Park in Burnet, TX IMG 2001
2011First State Bank of Burnet, TX IMG 1996
2011First Baptist Church, Burnet, TX IMG 1994
2011Downtown Burnet, TX IMG 1997
2011Dairy Queen, Burnet, TX IMG 2000
2011Clock at Burnet County, TX, Courthouse IMG 1986
2011Burnet, TX, City Hall IMG 1985
2011Burnet Chamber of Commerce office, Burnet, TX IMG 1988
2010Burnet courthouse 2010
2006Oldhouse
2004TXMap-doton-BurnetFire 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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Burnet’s post office has been open since 1852.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Burnet post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Burnet is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #162 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.
One place: the Burnet County Courthouse (listed 2000).
8% of Burnet’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
