Childress’ post office opened in 1887, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #19 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 93 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Childress post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1890.
History grade
What drives Childress’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Childress is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #19 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Childress’ 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 Childress’ 159 sits above most of its state (97% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 93 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1890 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Childress’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Childress, building by building, 1902–1921
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 year, then a sheet.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Childress, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Childress yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Childress ( CHIL-driss) (established 1887; incorporated 1890) is a city in and the county seat of Childress County, Texas, United States. Its population was 5,737 at the 2020 census. The city and county were named after George Campbell Childress, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, who was the principal author of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The county and city were incorporated more than four decades after Childress' death.
Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 6,105 to 5,737 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Childress, 1887 to 1967
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Childress’ history
What year was Childress founded?
The Childress post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.
How does Childress rank for history?
Childress is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #19 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 Childress?
One place: the Childress Commercial and Civic Historic District (listed 2016).
How old are the homes in Childress?
28% of Childress’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1961.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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