Carrizo Springs dates to 1865, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #210 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Carrizo Springs was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Dimmit County Courthouse. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1878.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Carrizo Springs’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carrizo Springs is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #210 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carrizo Springs’ 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 Carrizo Springs’ 2.1 sits above most of its state (76% 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 (±2.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1865.
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 Carrizo Springs’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Carrizo Springs lies along U.S. Route 83, approximately 82 miles northwest of Laredo, Texas and 45 miles north of the Mexican border. Route 83 intersects U.S. Route 277 there. The name "Carrizo Springs" derives from similarly named springs in the area; the name is Spanish for a type of grass once common in the area. Founded in 1865 by settlers from Atascosa County, Carrizo Springs is the oldest community in the county.
Carrizo Springs, along with San Antonio, Uvalde, Crystal City, and Corpus Christi, was a major stop on the defunct San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad, a Class I rail carrier line, which operated from 1909 until it was merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1956.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Carrizo Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1939Carrizo Springs sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Carrizo Springs.
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.
Retake this viewBob Lemmons, 1936
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Carrizo Springs’ page.
In 1865, according to Wikidata. Carrizo Springs’ post office opened in 1878, and the census of 1890 counted 289 people here.
How does Carrizo Springs rank for history?
Carrizo Springs is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #210 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 Carrizo Springs?
One place: the Dimmit County Courthouse (listed 1984).
How old are the homes in Carrizo Springs?
2% of Carrizo Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (2), 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) 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.
1936
2008
2008
2008
2004
