Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Floydada

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
CHistory
History · Floydada

Floydada’s post office opened in 1890, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Floydada began

When was Floydada founded?

1890

The Floydada post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 664 in 19102020 census: 2,675136 years

How historic is Floydada?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Floydada’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Floydada is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Floydada’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.4% of homes (±5.3) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder

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 Floydada’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.3 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 Floydada’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 Floydada are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 4,193 in 1980; 2,675 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Floydada’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Floydada’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
People over time

Floydada, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 4,193

Peaked at 4,193 in 1980; 2,675 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Floydada came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Floydada.

Read it all →

According to the Texas State Historical Association, the community of Floydada was originally named "Floyd City". It was established in 1890 on 640 acres (260 ha) of land donated by James B. and Caroline Price of Jefferson City, Missouri. Floydada won the election as county seat over Della Plain. When a post office opened, the name was changed to "Floydada". The meaning of the name is disputed. Some claim it was meant to be "Floydalia" but was garbled in transmission to the U.S. Postal Service, while others insist it is a combination of the county's name and that of James Price's mother, Ada. A third view is that it was formed from Caroline Price's parents, Floyd and Ada.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Floydada, 1890 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Floydada post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920Born herePrice Brookfield is born here
  5. 1939Born hereDon Williams is born here
  6. 1949Born hereH. Jeff Kimble is born here
  7. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1975Born hereDavid Terrell is born here
  9. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 4,193
By decade

Floydada, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Floydada Texas Marshall Grain Elevator2015Floydada Texas Marshall Grain ElevatorBoxed pumpkins at farmers market 20152015Boxed pumpkins at farmers market 2015US highway 62 towards2014US highway 62 towardsUS 62 towards2013US 62 towardsFloydada2005FloydadaTXMap-doton-Floydada2004TXMap-doton-Floydada
On the map

Floydada on the map, 1965 to 1981

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

Floydada on the 1965 USGS mapFloydada on the 1981 USGS map1965Floydada sheet · 1:24,000

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

Every building

Floydada, building by building, 1925

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 sheet.

Floydada fire insurance map, 1925, sheet 11925Sheet 1 of 7
BrickWoodStone

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Floydada

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

See all →
Don WilliamsAmerican country singer · b. 1939
Price BrookfieldAmerican basketball player · b. 1920
H
H. Jeff KimbleAmerican physicist · b. 1949
D
David TerrellAmerican football player · b. 1975

Questions about Floydada’s history

What year was Floydada founded?

The Floydada post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Floydada rank for history?

Floydada is more historic than 32% 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.

How old are the homes in Floydada?

11% of Floydada’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1965.

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), 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.