Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 6% of U.S. towns · #512 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Crosby was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1970.
More historic than 6% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Crosby is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #512 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Crosby’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.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Crosby’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Crosby. 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 Crosby.
From Wikipedia’s history of Crosby.
The site north of U.S. Route 90 (according to some) was an encampment nicknamed Lick Skillet in 1823 by Humphrey Jackson, one of the 300 original Anglo colonists to settle Texas. The name "Lick Skillet" came from the phrase, "The East Texas oxen team drivers sipped the spring sweet water and licked their skillets clean."
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.
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 Crosby’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,118 people in 1970 to 3,417 in 2020, 3 times over.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Crosby’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Crosby is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #512 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.
0.0% of Crosby’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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