Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of El Refugio was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 2000.
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 El Refugio’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of El Refugio yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
El Refugio ("The Refuge") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Starr County, Texas, United States. The population was 407 at the 2020 census. El Refugio gained area in the 2010 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 331 to 407 (+23%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of El Refugio. 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 El Refugio.
Between 221 and 407 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on El Refugio’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in El Refugio itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From 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.
