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History · Chireno

Chireno’s post office opened in 1880

Most of Chireno was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chireno’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chireno began

When was Chireno founded?

1880

The Chireno post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 276 in 18902020 census: 370146 years
Founding year: the first Chireno post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Chireno’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chireno’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOld Half-Way Inn, West of Chireno on Te…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Chireno, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chireno yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Chireno ( shi-REE-noh) is a city in Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. Its population was 370 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 386 to 370 (-4%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Chireno, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Old Half-Way Inn, West of Chireno on Texas Route 21Date?Old Half-Way Inn, West of Chireno on Texas Route 21
Today2 recent
CherinoTexas (1 of 1)2018CherinoTexas (1 of 1)TXMap-doton-Chireno2004TXMap-doton-Chireno
On the map

Chireno on the map, 1953 to 1984

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

Chireno on the 1953 USGS mapChireno on the 1975 USGS mapChireno on the 1984 USGS map1953Palestine sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chireno.

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.

Old Half-Way Inn, West of Chireno on Texas Route 21
Retake this viewOld Half-Way Inn, West of Chireno on Texas Route 21

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Chireno, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 415

Between 276 and 415 people in every census since 1890.

7 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Questions about Chireno’s history

What year was Chireno founded?

The Chireno post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), 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.