Falfurrias dates to 1895, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #226 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Falfurrias was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1959. Its Register listing is the Brooks County Courthouse. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 1950.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1898.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Falfurrias’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Falfurrias is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #226 of 642 in Texas. 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 Falfurrias’ 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 Falfurrias’ 2.2 sits above most of its state (76% 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 (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1895.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Falfurrias’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Falfurrias' founding and development were largely due to the efforts of Edward Cunningham Lasater, a pioneer Rio Grande Valley rancher and developer. In 1895, he started a cattle ranch in what was then northern Starr County. At one point, it was one of the largest ranches in Texas. With the extension of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway south from Alice to his ranch in 1904, Lasater founded the town of Falfurrias and subdivided a sizable portion of his ranch land for sale to farmers. In 1898, a post office opened in the community. A local newspaper began publication in 1906. Lasater brought in his Jersey cows and established a creamery in 1909. Sweet-cream butter and other products from Edward Lasater's creamery company made the town a familiar name across the state. That butter, though, is no longer made from milk produced in Falfurrias. Don Pedro Jaramillo, a Mexican-born cura…
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.
In 1895, according to Wikidata. Falfurrias’ post office opened in 1898, and the census of 1950 counted 6,712 people here.
How does Falfurrias rank for history?
Falfurrias is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #226 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 Falfurrias?
One place: the Brooks County Courthouse (listed 2012).
How old are the homes in Falfurrias?
2% of Falfurrias’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (1), 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) 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.
1957
1959
1963
1965