Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hitchcock

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
B−History
History · Hitchcock

Hitchcock dates to 1873, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #144 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Hitchcock was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the Stringfellow Orchards. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1960.

1873founded
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Hitchcock began

When was Hitchcock founded?

1873

Hitchcock dates its founding to 1873 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 5,216 in 19602020 census: 7,301153 years

How historic is Hitchcock?

B−

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1869.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hitchcock’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hitchcock is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #144 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hitchcock’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19404.6% of homes (±2.9) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 2.6 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 78%

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 Hitchcock’s 2.6 sits above most of its state (78% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.9 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1873.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Hitchcock’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hitchcock are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hitchcock’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hitchcock came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hitchcock.

Read it all →

Hitchcock was created as a station of the railroad between Galveston and Houston in 1873 and around the turn of the 20th century, it became a vegetable shipping center. The settlement's economy crashed in the 1930s after insect plagues in the surrounding areas, and the area stayed impoverished until the establishment of Camp Wallace, an anti-aircraft training base, and the Naval Air Station Hitchcock at the beginning of World War II. After the end of the war, the bases were used as discharge centers, and some former soldiers settled in the area. Hitchcock was established in 1960 as the area's population boomed, topping out at nearly 7,000 by the end of the 1960s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hitchcock, 1869 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Highland Station post office opens
  3. 1873
    FoundingHitchcock is established
  4. 1880Post officeThe Highland Station post office closes
  5. 1884Post officeThe Hitchcock post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1983Born hereTaurian Fontenette is born here
By decade

Hitchcock, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Hitchcock Naval Air Station Blimp Hangar Frame2012Hitchcock Naval Air Station Blimp Hangar FrameHitchcock Texas Post Office 775632010Hitchcock Texas Post Office 77563
On the map

Hitchcock on the map, 1929 to 1974

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

Hitchcock on the 1929 USGS mapHitchcock on the 1932 USGS mapHitchcock on the 1950 USGS mapHitchcock on the 1964 USGS mapHitchcock on the 1974 USGS map1929Hitchcock sheet · 1:24,000

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Hitchcock

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2013
Stringfellow Orchards
Stringfellow Orchards
Buildings
Stringfellow OrchardsBuilding

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

People over time

Hitchcock, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001960198020002020Peak: 7,301

Between 5,216 and 7,301 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Hitchcock’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Highland Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Highland Station
1869–1880
Hitchcock
1884–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Texas City Terminal Junction
Gone or out of use
Franks Oil FieldoilfieldGreens Lake Oil FieldoilfieldHHI Hitchcock HeliportairportNaval Air Station HitchcockmilitarySarah White Oil Fieldoilfield
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hitchcock
Barbers ChapelBeguin - OpitzGalveston Memorial ParkGrace MemorialHitchcockMainland MemorialMainland Memorial

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

La MarqueIts storyC−Bayou VistaIts storyD−Alvin1 historic placeCSanta Fe1 historic placeC−Tiki IslandIts storyD

Questions about Hitchcock’s history

What year was Hitchcock founded?

In 1873, according to Wikidata. Hitchcock’s post office opened in 1869, and the census of 1960 counted 5,216 people here.

How does Hitchcock rank for history?

Hitchcock is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #144 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 Hitchcock?

One place: the Stringfellow Orchards (listed 2013).

How old are the homes in Hitchcock?

5% of Hitchcock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.