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BHistory
History · Elgin

Elgin’s post office opened in 1873, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #95 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Elgin was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 65 buildings. Below: maps from 1887 on and the census since 1910.

1873first post office
2on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Elgin began

When was Elgin founded?

1873

The Elgin post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,707 in 19102020 census: 9,784153 years

How historic is Elgin?

B

More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Elgin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Elgin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elgin is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #95 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elgin’s overall grade.
Founding era1873, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19407.9% of homes (±4.9) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 66 historic buildings, 57.1 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 60%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 85%

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 Elgin’s 57.1 sits above most of its state (94% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 66 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±4.9 points). 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 Elgin’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Elgin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe Elgin Commercial Historic District takes in 65 historic buildings.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1887 to 1916, drew every building in Elgin.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Elgin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Elgin’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

2 listings protect 66 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
66
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Elgin Commercial Historic District
Elgin Commercial Historic DistrictMary Christian Burleson House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Classical Revival1
Vernacular 1- and 2-Part Commercial Blocks1
Elgin Commercial Historic DistrictItalianate
All 2 listings
Mary Christian Burleson HouseBuilding · listed 2024

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Elgin, building by building, 1887–1916

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.

Elgin fire insurance map, 1887, sheet 11887Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Elgin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Elgin.

Read it all →

In 1871, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad (succeeded by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company) built through the area and established a flag stop called Glasscock named for George W. Glasscock, a local resident and Republic of Texas soldier who lived in the area in the 1830s. Glasscock was renamed on August 18, 1872, for Robert Morris Elgin, the railroad's land commissioner, following the practice of naming new railroad towns after officers of the company. Elgin was established. The original plat placed the train depot in the center of a one-square-mile area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Elgin, 1873 to 1981

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1873Post officeThe Elgin post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Born hereE. Finley Carter is born here
  5. 1941Born hereRay Culp is born here
  6. 1946Born hereDorothy Doolittle is born here
  7. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1981Born hereJake Helgren is born here
By decade

Elgin, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Elgin High School Elgin Texas 20252025Elgin High School Elgin Texas 2025ElginTx1 (1 of 1)2019ElginTx1 (1 of 1)Southside Market2008Southside MarketFence Cross Hair2008Fence Cross HairUntitled photo2007Untitled photoTXMap-doton-Elgin2004TXMap-doton-Elgin
On the map

Elgin on the map, 1948 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elgin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Elgin on the 1948 USGS mapElgin on the 1950 USGS mapElgin on the 1982 USGS map1948Elgin sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Elgin.

People over time

Elgin, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,0001920194019601980200020209,784

Grew from 1,707 people in 1910 to 9,784 in 2020, 5 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elgin’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Elgin

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jake HelgrenAmerican film producer, director and screenwrit… · b. 1981
Ray CulpAmerican baseball player · b. 1941
D
Dorothy DoolittleAmerican marathon runner and athletics coach · b. 1946
E
E. Finley CarterAmerican electrical engineer · b. 1901
W
William Angie SmithAmerican Methodist bishop · b. 1894

Questions about Elgin’s history

What year was Elgin founded?

The Elgin post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Elgin rank for history?

Elgin is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Elgin?

Two places: the Elgin Commercial Historic District (listed 1996) and the Mary Christian Burleson House (2024).

How old are the homes in Elgin?

8% of Elgin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1990.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (2), 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.