The story
Read it all →How Devine came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Devine.
Devine, Texas, is named for Hon. Thomas J. Devine, a native of San Antonio.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
CHistory
History · Devine
Devine’s post office opened in 1881, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #277 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Devine was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Devine Opera House. Below: maps from 1922 on and the census since 1910.
1881first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Quick answers
How Devine began
When was Devine founded?
1881
The Devine post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 1,042 in 19102020 census: 4,324145 years
How historic is Devine?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Devine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Devine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Devine is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #277 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 Devine’s overall grade.
Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±0.8) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register1 listing, 2.2 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 57%
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 Devine’s 2.2 sits above most of its state (76% 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 D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Devine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Devine’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Devine’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Devine, 1881 to 2004
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1881Post officeThe Devine post office opens
- 20th century
- 1905Born hereJoe Vance is born here
- 1942
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 21st century
- 2004Born hereLeo Torres is born here
By decade
Devine, decade by decade
2011
2011
2011
2009
2009
2009On the map
Devine on the map, 1942 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Devine. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1942Natalia sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Devine.
Every building
Devine, building by building, 1922
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.
1922Sheet 1 of 6BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Devine
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Devine Opera House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Commercial Romanesque1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Devine, census by census
Between 995 and 4,350 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Devine’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →2 famous people were born in Devine
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Devine’s history
What year was Devine founded?
The Devine post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Devine rank for history?
Devine is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #277 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 Devine?
One place: the Devine Opera House (listed 1975).
How old are the homes in Devine?
0.0% of Devine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1976.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), 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.