Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #298 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Fairview was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1970.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairview is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #298 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold 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 Fairview’s 0.9 sits above most of its state (72% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Fairview’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Fairview.
A petition to request an incorporation election for Fairview was submitted to the county judge and commissioners' court on April 21, 1958, and following an election on May 7, 1958, and count of all 50 ballots, the town was incorporated, ordered by Collin County Judge W. E. Button.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fairview. 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 Fairview.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 463 people in 1970 to 10,372 in 2020, more than tenfold.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fairview’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Fairview is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #298 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.
One place: the Fairview H&TC Railroad Historic District (listed 2010).
0.0% of Fairview’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2006.
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 (2), 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) 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.
2018
2009