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History · Calvert

Calvert’s post office opened in 1868, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 82 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1880 on.

1868first post office
2on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Calvert began

When was Calvert founded?

1868

The Calvert post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 962158 years
Founding year: the first Calvert post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Calvert’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.A historic districtThe Calvert Historic District takes in 82 historic buildings.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Calvert’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Calvert’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 viewPortrait of Lee Chopp, Chinese pioneer …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

2 listings protect 84 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
84
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Hammond House
Hammond HouseCalvert Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
Commercial1
Victorian1
Hammond HouseGothic Revival
Calvert Historic DistrictCommercial

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

The story

How Calvert came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calvert.

Read it all →

The earliest known white settler in the area was Joseph Harlan, whose 1837 land grant laid five miles south of what is now the City of Calvert. In 1850, Robert Calvert, for whom the town is named, established a plantation west of the town. Calvert, who was a former Texas Representative and area farmer urged the Houston and Texas Central Railway to build through the area. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad agreed to stop in the town, at the encouragement of town leaders, in 1868.

ChaptersFounding & coming of the railroadsNamed as county seatDevelopment and declineModern controversies

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Calvert, 1868 to 1920

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Calvert post office opens
  3. 1879Born hereRube Foster is born here
  4. 1880In the archivePortrait of Lee Chopp, Chinese pioneer in
  5. 20th century
  6. 1904Born hereBill Foster is born here
  7. 1917Born hereTom Bradley is born here
  8. 1920Born hereJoseph Tyree Sneed, III is born here
By decade

Calvert, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
Portrait of Lee Chopp, Chinese pioneer in1880Portrait of Lee Chopp, Chinese pioneer in
1890s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Downtown Calvert Wiki 1 (1 of 1)2017Downtown Calvert Wiki 1 (1 of 1)Calvert Masonic Lodge2017Calvert Masonic LodgeCalvert City Hall Wiki (1 of 1)2017Calvert City Hall Wiki (1 of 1)DowntownCalvertTexas(1 of 2)2016DowntownCalvertTexas(1 of 2)DowntownCalvertTexas(1 of 1)2016DowntownCalvertTexas(1 of 1)
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.

Portrait of Lee Chopp, Chinese pioneer in
Retake this viewPortrait of Lee Chopp, Chinese pioneer in, 1880

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

7 famous people were born in Calvert

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

See all →
Tom BradleyAmerican politician · b. 1917
J
Joseph Tyree Sneed, IIIAmerican judge · b. 1920
Rube FosterAmerican Hall of Fame baseball player · b. 1879
B
Bill FosterAmerican Hall of Fame baseball player · b. 1904
P
Pete MillsAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1942
E
Eddie MillerPitcher · b. 1902

Questions about Calvert’s history

What year was Calvert founded?

The Calvert post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Calvert?

Two places: the Hammond House (listed 1970) and the Calvert Historic District (1978).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.