More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #495 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Galena Park was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1956. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1940.
Founding year: the first Galena Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Galena Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Galena Park is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #495 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Galena Park’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 Galena Park’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 still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Galena Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was first settled by Ezekiel Thomas in 1824, whom had received a land grant from the Mexican government. After Thomas's death, his family sold the land to Isaac Batterson's family who moved into the area in 1833. The area of Galena Park began as the settlement of Clinton in 1835. The center of what would become Galena Park was a 1,000-acre (400 ha) tract that Batterson purchased from the estate of Ezekiel Thomas. The settlement originally served as a farming and ranching community, but in the 1880s transformed into a railroad center along the new Port of Houston. With the coming of the petrochemical industry in the early 1900s, Clinton again transformed into a refinery center.
The Galena Park post office opened in 1931, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Galena Park rank for history?
Galena Park is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #495 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.
How old are the homes in Galena Park?
2% of Galena Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1956.
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) 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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2024