Hempstead’s post office opened in 1857, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #262 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Hempstead was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listing is the Liendo Plantation. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Hempstead post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hempstead’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hempstead is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #262 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hempstead’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 Hempstead’s 1.6 sits above most of its state (74% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Hempstead’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
On December 29, 1856, Richard Rodgers Peebles and James W. McDade organized the Hempstead Town Company to sell lots in the newly established community of Hempstead, which was located at the projected terminus of Houston and Texas Central Railway. Peebles named Hempstead after Dr. G. S. B. Hempstead, Peebles's brother-in-law. Peebles and Mary Ann Groce Peebles, his wife, contributed 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of the estate of Jared E. Groce, Jr., for the community. On June 29, 1858, the Houston and Texas Central Railway was extended to Hempstead, causing the community to become a distribution center between the Gulf Coast and the interior of Texas. On November 10 of that year, Hempstead incorporated. The Washington County Railroad, which ran from Hempstead to Brenham, enhanced the city upon its completion.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Hempstead, census by census
Between 1,395 and 5,770 people in every census since 1880.
11 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hempstead’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Hempstead’s history
What year was Hempstead founded?
The Hempstead post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hempstead rank for history?
Hempstead is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #262 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.
What is on the National Register in Hempstead?
One place: the Liendo Plantation (listed 1971).
How old are the homes in Hempstead?
0.3% of Hempstead’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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