Founding year: the first Hallsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hallsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hallsville is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #185 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 Hallsville’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 Hallsville’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±12.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1870 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Hallsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was first settled in 1839, when Fort Crawford was built one mile west of the site of present Hallsville by W. C. Crawford as a protection against Native Americans. In 1849, the fort is reported to have had a post office and a two-story building that served as church, Masonic hall, and school (the only school in western Harrison County until 1868). In 1869, when an independent Southern Pacific Railway crossed a mile north of Fort Crawford, the settlers moved to the railroad and named the new settlement for a railroad official. All that remains at the original location is a cemetery.
The Hallsville post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1870.
How does Hallsville rank for history?
Hallsville is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #185 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 Hallsville?
17% of Hallsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±12.5 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1985.
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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