Most of Farwell was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Parmer County Courthouse. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1957 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Farwell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Farwell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Farwell is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Farwell’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 Farwell’s 15.3 sits above most of its state (89% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 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 Farwell’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Farwell began as a cow camp for the XIT Ranch, a huge ranch that was established in 1880. Farwell was named for brothers Charles B. and John V. Farwell of Lake Forest, Illinois, who built the Texas State Capitol building in exchange for 3,050,000 acres (12,300 km2) of ranchland. That region of Texas had been controlled by the Comanche from about 1725, when they defeated the Apache and forced them to migrate to the [Sierra Blanca range] in New Mexico and to other regions [the southernmost point of the Rockies is near Santa Fe]. The Red River War of 1874–1875—the biggest military operation the U.S. had between the Civil War and World War One—had five armies converge on that part of the High Plains, ultimately defeating the main Comanche force in Palo Duro Canyon (80 mi northeast of Farwell) by driving off and slaughtering the Comanches' horses.
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.
The Farwell post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Farwell rank for history?
Farwell is more historic than 28% 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 Farwell?
One place: the Parmer County Courthouse (listed 2019).
How old are the homes in Farwell?
3% of Farwell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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