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C−History
History · Cleveland

Cleveland’s post office opened in 1880

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #322 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Cleveland was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1930.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cleveland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cleveland began

When was Cleveland founded?

1880

The Cleveland post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1935. Six smaller post offices, Africa (1880), Keno (1883) and Clinesburg (1896), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,422 in 19302020 census: 7,471146 years

How historic is Cleveland?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Cleveland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1935.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cleveland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cleveland is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #322 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cleveland’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.6% of homes (±2.6) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational 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 21%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 50%

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 Cleveland’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 range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1935.

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 Cleveland’s past

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

Lost villages6 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Cleveland, and 6 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Cleveland’s post office has been open since 1880. Six other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Africa
1880–1883
Cleveland
1880–today
Keno
1883–1902
Clinesburg
1896–1906
Fostoria
1906–1959
Excelsior
1910–1917
Gladstell
1913–1936
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BendetsenFostoriaGladstellGradyKenoNimrod
Gone or out of use
McCoy Gas and Oil FieldoilfieldPelican Oil Fieldoilfield
1cemetery inside Cleveland
Wells

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

Help out

Start Cleveland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cleveland’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 viewFlooded areas, East Fork San Jacinto Ri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Cleveland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cleveland.

Read it all →

In 1854, a church and convent were built by Father Peter La Cour near the town's present site. The town began forming in 1878 when Charles Lander Cleveland, a local judge, donated 63.6 acres (257,000 m2) of land to the Houston East and West Texas Railway (now part of the Union Pacific Railroad) for use as a stop, requesting that the town be named for him. Since 1900, Cleveland has served as the junction of this line and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe (now the BNSF Railway). The town was not incorporated until 1935.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cleveland, 1880 to 1992

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Africa post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Cleveland post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Africa post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe Keno post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1902Post officeThe Keno post office closes
  8. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1967Born hereJason Grimsley is born here
  10. 1970In the archiveFlooded areas, East Fork San Jacinto River, Reese and Tarkington bayous, vicinity of Clev…
  11. 1992Born hereCedric Reed is born here
By decade

Cleveland, decade by decade

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

1970s1 item
Flooded areas, East Fork San Jacinto River, Reese and Tarkington bayous, vicinity of Cleveland, Texas1970Flooded areas, East Fork San Jacinto River, Reese and…
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
Today5 recent
Cleveland, TX, City Hall IMG 82712013Cleveland, TX, City Hall IMG 8271Cleveland, TX sign IMG 82592013Cleveland, TX sign IMG 8259Austin Memorial Library, Cleveland, TX IMG 82652013Austin Memorial Library, Cleveland, TX IMG 8265SanJacinto Watershed2006SanJacinto WatershedTXMap-doton-Cleveland2004TXMap-doton-Cleveland
On the map

Cleveland on the map, 1958 to 1997

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

Cleveland on the 1958 USGS mapCleveland on the 1976 USGS mapCleveland on the 1997 USGS map1958Cleveland sheet · 1:24,000

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

Every building

Cleveland, building by building, 1926

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.

Cleveland fire insurance map, 1926, sheet 11926Sheet 1 of 7
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.

Flooded areas, East Fork San Jacinto River, Reese and Tarkington bayous, vicinity of Cleveland, Texas
Retake this viewFlooded areas, East Fork San Jacinto River, Reese and Tarkington bayous, vicinity of Cleveland, Texas, 1970

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cleveland, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00019401960198020002020Peak: 7,675

Between 1,422 and 7,675 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Cleveland

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

See all →
J
Jason GrimsleyAmerican baseball player · b. 1967
C
Cedric ReedAmerican-football player · b. 1992
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

North ClevelandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cleveland’s history

What year was Cleveland founded?

The Cleveland post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1935.

How does Cleveland rank for history?

Cleveland is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #322 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 Cleveland?

4% of Cleveland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1984.

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), 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.