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CHistory
History · Hidalgo

Hidalgo’s post office opened in 1876, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #207 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Hidalgo was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Its Register listings are the Old Hidalgo School and the Old Hidalgo Courthouse and Buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1880.

1876first post office
2on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hidalgo’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hidalgo began

When was Hidalgo founded?

1876

The Hidalgo post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Edinburgh (1850), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 259 in 18802020 census: 13,964150 years

How historic is Hidalgo?

C

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hidalgo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hidalgo’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hidalgo is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #207 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 Hidalgo’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.9) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 5 historic buildings, 3.4 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 68%

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 Hidalgo’s 3.4 sits above most of its state (79% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±0.9 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 Hidalgo’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Hidalgo, and 3 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19164 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 2002. Watch Hidalgo change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hidalgo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hidalgo’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 viewTexas: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Hidalgo’s post office has been open since 1876. Another post office, Edinburgh, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Edinburgh
1850–1876
Hidalgo
1876–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Sanchez Ranch ColoniaValle Alto Number 1 ColoniaValle Alto Number 2 Colonia
Gone or out of use
Hidalgo Gas Fieldoilfield

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Hidalgo on the map, 1916 to 2002

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hidalgo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hidalgo on the 1916 USGS mapHidalgo on the 1963 USGS mapHidalgo on the 1983 USGS mapHidalgo on the 2002 USGS map1916Mission sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hidalgo.

The story

How Hidalgo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hidalgo.

Read it all →

The area that is now Hidalgo was first settled by Spanish colonists led by José de Escandón circa 1749. The colony was known by multiple names: La Habitación, Rancho San Luis, and San Luisito. In 1852, John Young settled in the area and renamed the town "Edinburgh" after his place of birth, Edinburgh, Scotland; Edinburg became the county seat of Hidalgo County. The town was incorporated in 1876, and its name was changed to "Hidalgo" in 1885.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hidalgo, 1850 to 1917

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Edinburgh post office opens
  3. 1876Post officeThe Edinburgh post office closes
  4. 1876Post officeThe Hidalgo post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1917In the archiveTexas
By decade

Hidalgo, decade by decade

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

1910s2 items
Texas1917TexasTexas1917Texas
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
Today4 recent
Old Hidalgo Couny Courthouse2014Old Hidalgo Couny CourthouseHidalgo Pumphouse2014Hidalgo PumphouseHidalgo ISD Administration Building2014Hidalgo ISD Administration BuildingCoyote cloudywing (Achalarus toxeus) dorsal2007Coyote cloudywing (Achalarus toxeus) dorsal
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.

Texas
Retake this viewTexas, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Hidalgo

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Old Hidalgo School
Old Hidalgo SchoolOld Hidalgo Courthouse and Buildings
Buildings
Old Hidalgo SchoolBuilding
All 2 listings
Old Hidalgo Courthouse and BuildingsBuilding · listed 1980

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Hidalgo, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,0001880190019201940196019802000202013,964

Grew from 259 people in 1880 to 13,964 in 2020, more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hidalgo’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

McAllen5 historic placesC−

Questions about Hidalgo’s history

What year was Hidalgo founded?

The Hidalgo post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hidalgo rank for history?

Hidalgo is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #207 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 Hidalgo?

Two places: the Old Hidalgo School (listed 1979) and the Old Hidalgo Courthouse and Buildings (1980).

How old are the homes in Hidalgo?

0.5% of Hidalgo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2004.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.