Most of Emory was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Rains County Courthouse. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1956 on, and the census since 1890.
The Emory post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Springville (1859), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 353 in 18902020 census: 1,251156 years
How historic is Emory?
C+
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Emory post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Emory’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Emory is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. 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 Emory’s overall grade.
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 Emory’s 8.3 sits above most of its state (85% 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 C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 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 Emory’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Emory yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Emory is a city in Rains County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Emory had a population of 1,251. It is the county seat of Rains County. Previously known as Springville, the city and county are named after Emory Rains, who was a legislator from the area. Rains was the author of the Homestead Law of Texas, which was later used as a model for the protection of homesteads throughout the United States. Special legislation passed to create Rains County called for the citizens to vote on the location of the county seat and for that selected town to be named Emory.
Its first post office opened in 1870. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,239 in 2010, 1,251 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Emory, 1859 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Emory’s post office has been open since 1870. Another post office, Springville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Springville
1859–1868
Emory
1870–today
18501940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Emory’s history
What year was Emory founded?
The Emory post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Emory rank for history?
Emory is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. 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 Emory?
One place: the Rains County Courthouse (listed 2003).
How old are the homes in Emory?
6% of Emory’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1982.
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), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
1880
1880
2014
2014
2014
