Commerce dates to 1872, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #173 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Commerce was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the President's House. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Commerce’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Commerce is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #173 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Commerce’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 Commerce’s 1.1 sits above most of its state (72% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 points). Two sources give 1872.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Commerce’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Commerce was formed when two merchants named William Jernigan and Josiah Jackson established a trading post and mercantile store where the present-day downtown area is. The rural area just to the northeast was an open prairie originally known as Cow Hill. The town was established in 1872 and named "Commerce" due to the thriving economic activity among the cotton fields and ideal farm and ranch lands between the Middle and South Sulphur rivers on the rich, black gumbo prairie in northeast Hunt County. The town incorporated in 1885. Two years later, a railroad was built through Commerce to transport merchandise from Fort Worth, and nine years later, William L. Mayo, a college educator, moved East Texas Normal College from the northeast Texas town of Cooper to Commerce after the original school in Cooper was destroyed in a fire. Mayo continued as president of the college, now known as East…
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.
In 1872, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Commerce’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1890 counted 810 people here.
How does Commerce rank for history?
Commerce is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #173 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 Commerce?
One place: the President's House (listed 2001).
How old are the homes in Commerce?
7% of Commerce’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1976.
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.
1908
1912
1913
