Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #145 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Coleman was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1958. Its Register listing is the Camp Colorado Replica. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1887 on, and the census since 1890.
The Coleman post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Coleman is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #145 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Coleman’s 2.5 sits above most of its state (77% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Coleman’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Coleman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Coleman.
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.
1888Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Coleman.
Coleman was founded in 1876 when R. J. Clow donated a 160-acre site on Hords Creek for a county seat. The town was named after the county. Coleman boomed as a result of its location on the Western Trail. In 1886, the Santa Fe Railroad built a spur line to the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archivePomological Watercolor POM00000142
In the archiveTexas - Colorado River
In the archiveSECND BARN, EAST SIDE - Mabel Doss Day Lea House, Second Barn, Voss, Coleman County, TX
Born hereRonnie Dunn is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Coleman’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Peaked at 6,530 in 1950; 3,912 people lived here in 2020.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Coleman’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Coleman post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Coleman is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #145 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.
One place: the Camp Colorado Replica (listed 2018).
9% of Coleman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1958.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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.
2020
2010
2007