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C+History
History · Center

Center’s post office opened in 1866, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns · #166 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Center was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Shelby County Courthouse and the Shelby County Courthouse Square. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1880.

1866first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Center’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Center began, and where its name came from

When was Center founded?

1866

The Center post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 177 in 18802020 census: 5,221160 years

How did Center get its name?

Center was named for its location near the center of Shelby County; the community is near the Louisiana border.

How historic is Center?

C+

More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Center post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Center’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Center is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #166 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 Center’s overall grade.
Founding era1866, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.9% of homes (±3.2) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 3 historic buildings, 5.7 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 43%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 74%

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 Center’s 5.7 sits above most of its state (82% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±3.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Center’s past

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

Famous sons and daughtersJesse Martin Combs, Del Shofner and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Famous people

9 famous people were born in Center

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

See all →
Jesse Martin CombsUnited States Representative · b. 1889
Del ShofnerAmerican football player · b. 1934
J
Joe WilliamsAmerican football player · b. 1947
Wayne ChristianAmerican politician · b. 1950
Charles A. RayAmerican diplomat · b. 1945
C
Chris PaddieAmerican politician · b. 1974
The story

How Center came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Center.

Read it all →

Shelby County was one of the original 13 counties in Texas, being organized by the Republic of Texas Congress in 1837. The county was named for Isaac Shelby, an American military hero and governor of Kentucky. Shelby County eventually became one of the most populous and prosperous counties in the state because of its proximity to Louisiana and location along the Sabine River.

The settlement which eventually became the City of Center was originally called White Cottage. A post office was established at this settlement on April 6, 1848.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Center, 1866 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Center post office opens
  3. 1889Born hereJesse Martin Combs is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1910In the archiveCenter High School
  6. 1934Born hereDel Shofner is born here
  7. 1936In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer October 22, 1936 FRONT…
  8. 1947Born hereJoe Williams is born here
  9. 1950Born hereWayne Christian is born here
  10. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Center, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s5 items
Center High School1910Center High SchoolHistoric American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer October 22, 1936 FRONT AND WEST SIDE ELEVATION. - Lo…1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer October 22, 1936 FRONT ELEVATION. - Emzy C. Smith Ho…1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer October 22, 1936 NORTH SIDE AND REAR ELEVATION. - Em…1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer October 22, 1936 REAR AND EAST SIDE ELEVATION. - Lou…1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…
1940s–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
Today1 recent
TXMap-doton-Center2004TXMap-doton-Center
On the map

Center on the map, 1958 to 1984

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

Center on the 1958 USGS mapCenter on the 1969 USGS mapCenter on the 1984 USGS map1958Center 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 Center.

Every building

Center, building by building, 1912

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 sheet.

Center fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Center High School
Retake this viewCenter High School, 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Center

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Shelby County Courthouse
Shelby County CourthouseShelby County Courthouse Square
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque Revival1
Romanesque1
Classical Revival1
Shelby County CourthouseRomanesque Revival
Shelby County Courthouse SquareRomanesque

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

People over time

Center, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,827

Between 177 and 5,827 people in every census since 1880.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old burying grounds

Center’s post office has been open since 1866.

3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Center
FairviewMullPrairie View

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

Help out

Finish Center’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCenter High School: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Center’s history

What year was Center founded?

The Center post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Center rank for history?

Center is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #166 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 Center?

1 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Shelby County Courthouse (listed 1971, the first). 3 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Center?

4% of Center’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1982.

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), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.