Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Goldsmith was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1958. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1960.
The Goldsmith post office opened in 1937, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Goldsmith’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Goldsmith yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Goldsmith is a city in Ector County, Texas, United States. The population was 236 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Odessa Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1937. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 257 to 236 (-8%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Goldsmith. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Goldsmith.
Between 236 and 670 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Goldsmith’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Goldsmith itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Goldsmith post office opened in 1937, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From 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.
