Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #242 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Hondo was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1950.
Hondo dates its founding to 1881 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1950.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hondo is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #242 of 642 in Texas. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Hondo’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hondo’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hondo.
Hondo was the scene of two bank robberies in the early 1920s. The crooks were the famed Newton Gang, the most successful outlaws in U.S. history. Both bank heists occurred the same night.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereClint Hartung is born here
In the archiveHondo Army Airfield - station - 2
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2011Medina, TX, Electric Cooperative IMG 3299
2011Medina County, TX, Museum IMG 3302
2011Medina County, TX, Jail IMG 3298
2011Hondo, TX, sign IMG 3305
2011Hondo, TX, Public Library IMG 3278
2011Hondo, TX, National Bank IMG 3290
2011Hondo, TX, Municipal Building IMG 3285
2011Hermann Sons Steakhouse, Hondo, TX IMG 3307
2007Vans RV-4 N64JWEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hondo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hondo.
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.
1909Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hondo’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 4,188 and 8,803 people in every census since 1950.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hondo’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Hondo’s post office has been open since 1895. Another post office, Hondo City, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1881, according to Wikidata. Hondo’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1950 counted 4,188 people here.
Hondo is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #242 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.
10% of Hondo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1975.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (12), 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), 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.
1944
1944
