Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Godley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Godley is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #237 of 642 in Texas. 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 Godley’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 Godley’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 (±6.5 points). Two sources give 1886.
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 Godley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Godley was established in 1886 and named for R. B. Godley, a Cleburne lumber merchant who donated an 8-acre (3.2 ha) tract for a townsite and 20 acres (8.1 ha) of land as a right-of-way to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. A station was constructed in 1886. By 1888, when the post office opened, Godley had a gristmill, three cotton gins, and two dairy-processing plants. Four years later, it had two general stores. By the mid-1920s, its population was 613. In 1930, it was 378, and 22 rated businesses operated locally. In the 1940s, the town had a population of 317 and 20 businesses. By 1956, it had a population of 424 and 16 businesses, and by 1990, it had 569 people and 12 businesses.
In 1886, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Godley’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1930 counted 378 people here.
How does Godley rank for history?
Godley is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #237 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 Godley?
10% of Godley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2016.
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 (4), 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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