More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #498 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Channelview was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Channelview post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Channelview’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Channelview is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #498 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Channelview’s 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 Channelview’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Channelview’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Channelview was given its name from its located on the northeastern curve of the Houston Ship Channel. The site of Channelview was home to Lorenzo de Zavala, one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Texas. During World War II, the area south of Market to the Ship Channel, and what is now DeZavala St. to the tollway, was part of the U.S. Army San Jacinto Ordnance Depot.
In 1990, an explosion occurred at the ARCO petrochemical plant in Channelview that killed 17 people and injured five others.
In 1991, Channelview was the site of a notable murder plot. Wanda Webb Holloway was convicted of attempting to hire a hitman to kill the mother of her daughter's junior high school cheerleading rival.
The Channelview post office opened in 1933, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Channelview rank for history?
Channelview is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #498 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 Channelview?
1% of Channelview’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (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.
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