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History · Grandfalls

Grandfalls’ post office opened in 1897

Most of Grandfalls was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1964. Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1910 on.

1897first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Walter Curran Mendenhall · Public domain
Quick answers

How Grandfalls began, and where its name came from

When was Grandfalls founded?

1897

The Grandfalls post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 340129 years

How did Grandfalls get its name?

Grandfalls was named for its location near the "grand falls" of the Pecos River, located roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) to the west.

Founding year: the first Grandfalls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Grandfalls’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Grandfalls’ homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Grandfalls’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Grandfalls’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewGrandfalls TX 1910 mwc00870: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Grandfalls, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Grandfalls yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Grandfalls is a town in Ward County, Texas, United States. It was named for its location near the "grand falls" of the Pecos River, located roughly 3 miles (4.8 km) to the west. Early settlers were attracted to the Grandfalls area in the late 1880s by the steady supply of water flowing in the Pecos River. Its population was 340 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1897. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 360 to 340 (-6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Grandfalls, 1897 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1897Post officeThe Grandfalls post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910In the archiveGrandfalls TX 1910 mwc00870
  5. 1923Born hereW. E. "Pete" Snelson is born here
By decade

Grandfalls, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Grandfalls TX 1910 mwc008701910Grandfalls TX 1910 mwc00870
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Grandfalls Texas Pecos River 20102010Grandfalls Texas Pecos River 2010TXMap-doton-Grandfalls2004TXMap-doton-Grandfalls
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Grandfalls TX 1910 mwc00870
Retake this viewGrandfalls TX 1910 mwc00870, 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grandfalls’ page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Grandfalls’ history

What year was Grandfalls founded?

The Grandfalls post office opened in 1897, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), 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.