Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #391 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Dickinson was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1929 on.
The Dickinson post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1977. Two smaller post offices, Dickinson's (1857) and Dickenson (1877), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dickinson is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #391 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds 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 Dickinson’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: 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 Dickinson’s history is told.
Dickinson’s post office has been open since 1890. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Dickinson.
Dickinson is located on a tract of land granted to John Dickinson in 1824, and named after him. A settlement had been established in this area on Dickinson Bayou before 1850. The Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad was built directly through Dickinson. This line was used in the American Civil War to successfully retake Galveston.
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.
In the archiveFMIB 34344 Dickinson Bayou, Upstream from Nicholstone;
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereStephanie Strom is born here
Born hereBill Gurley is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dickinson. 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 Dickinson.
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 Dickinson’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dickinson post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1977.
Dickinson is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #391 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.
0.5% of Dickinson’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1986.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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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