Founding year: the first Ganado post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1909.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ganado’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ganado is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ganado’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 Ganado’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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1909.
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 Ganado’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The City of Ganado was a ranching community when it was first settled. Most settlers lived near Mustang Creek and traveled to Texana, Victoria and Indianola for supplies.
Jackson County's "second city," Ganado was originally known as Mustang Settlement, after nearby Mustang Creek. Cattle ranching was the primary economic engine and herds were driven to Louisiana for sale and later to Kansas City. That came to an abrupt end with the coming of the railroad in 1882. As the story goes, a railroad official looked out the window of a train car and saw a large herd of cattle. He decided the area should be called Ganado, which means "cattle" in Spanish. Thus Ganado was named in 1882.
The Ganado post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1909.
How does Ganado rank for history?
Ganado is more historic than 17% 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 Ganado?
1% of Ganado’s 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 1969.
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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
