Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Carrollton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
DHistory
History · Carrollton

Carrollton’s post office opened in 1878

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #400 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Carrollton was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1931 on, and the census since 1920.

1878first post office
0on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Carrollton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Carrollton began

When was Carrollton founded?

1878

The Carrollton post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1913. Two smaller post offices, Trinity Mills (1858) and Hebron (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 573 in 19202020 census: 133,434148 years

How historic is Carrollton?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Carrollton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1913.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Carrollton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carrollton is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #400 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carrollton’s overall grade.
Founding era1878, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.2) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 38%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Carrollton ranks #369 on History.

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 Carrollton’s 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.

Newer cities are common at Carrollton’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1913.

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 Carrollton’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Carrollton, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersKatie Meili, Anthony Ampaipitakwong and 9 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Carrollton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBUTTERFLY AND WILD FLOWERS IN ELM FORK …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Carrollton’s post office has been open since 1878. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Trinity Mills
1858–1915
Carrollton
1878–today
Hebron
1890–1957
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HebronTrinity Mills
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Carrollton
FurneauxHilltop Memorial ParkPerryThomas ParkWarner

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

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Carrollton

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

See all →
Katie MeiliAmerican swimmer · b. 1991
A
Anthony AmpaipitakwongThai-American soccer player · b. 1988
T
Tom VandergriffPolitician and businessman · b. 1926
Christian GonzalezAmerican football player · b. 2002
Sam GarzaAmerican soccer player · b. 1989
S
Shelton JohnsonAmerican football player · b. 1990
The story

How Carrollton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Carrollton.

Read it all →

The area was first settled by Jared Ford in 1842 by William and Mary Larner on a site within the Peters Colony grant. In 1844, the A. W. Perry family claimed land in the area around Trinity Mills where, in partnership with Wade H. Witt, a mill was established.

The English colony, a group of families in the northeastern area of settlement which crossed into Denton County, was home to large landowners including the Furneaux, Jackson, Morgan, and Rowe families. Carrollton was most likely named after Carrollton, Illinois, the original home of many of these settlers, which itself was named after American Founding Father Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, MD..

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Carrollton, 1858 to 2002

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Trinity Mills post office opens
  3. 1878Post officeThe Carrollton post office opens
  4. 1890Post officeThe Hebron post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1915Post officeThe Trinity Mills post office closes
  7. 1926Born hereTom Vandergriff is born here
  8. 1931On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1957Post officeThe Hebron post office closes
  10. 1972In the archiveBUTTERFLY AND WILD FLOWERS IN ELM FORK PARK NATURE CENTER IN NORTHWEST DALLAS
  11. 1988Born hereAnthony Ampaipitakwong is born here
  12. 1991Born hereKatie Meili is born here
  13. 21st century
  14. 2002Born hereChristian Gonzalez is born here
By decade

Carrollton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s2 items
BUTTERFLY AND WILD FLOWERS IN ELM FORK PARK NATURE CENTER IN NORTHWEST DALLAS1972BUTTERFLY AND WILD FLOWERS IN ELM FORK PARK NATURE CE…WILD FLOWER GROWING IN ELM FORK PARK NATURE CENTER IN NORTHWEST DALLAS1972WILD FLOWER GROWING IN ELM FORK PARK NATURE CENTER IN…
1980s–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
Today4 recent
Greenbelt Park in2013Greenbelt Park inAerial, Indian Creek near Dallas2011Aerial, Indian Creek near DallasCarrolltonTennisSign2008CarrolltonTennisSignCarrollton City Council Chamber2008Carrollton City Council Chamber
On the map

Carrollton on the map, 1931 to 1981

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

Carrollton on the 1931 USGS mapCarrollton on the 1959 USGS mapCarrollton on the 1968 USGS mapCarrollton on the 1973 USGS mapCarrollton on the 1981 USGS map1931Carrollton 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 Carrollton.

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.

BUTTERFLY AND WILD FLOWERS IN ELM FORK PARK NATURE CENTER IN NORTHWEST DALLAS
Retake this viewBUTTERFLY AND WILD FLOWERS IN ELM FORK PARK NATURE CENTER IN NORTHWEST DALLAS, 1972

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Carrollton, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000192019401960198020002020133,434

Grew from 573 people in 1920 to 133,434 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Dallas125 historic placesA−HebronIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLewisvilleIts storyC−CoppellIts storyDThe ColonyIts storyD−Plano3 historic placesCAddisonIts storyCIrving2 historic placesC−Farmers Branch1 historic placeB−

Questions about Carrollton’s history

What year was Carrollton founded?

The Carrollton post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1913.

How does Carrollton rank for history?

Carrollton is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #400 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.

How old are the homes in Carrollton?

0.3% of Carrollton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1988.

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 (6), 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.