More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #378 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Hutchins was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Hutchins post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hutchins’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hutchins is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #378 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hutchins’ 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 Hutchins’ 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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 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 Hutchins’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was first inhabited by families around 1860 as a trading place for immigrants who settled along the west bank of the Trinity River and new arrivals who crossed the Trinity at Dowd's Ferry from the east.
The town received its name from railroad developer William J. Hutchins, who was then president and general manager of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. The railway was completed through Hutchins in 1872. That same year, a post office opened in the community. The population of Hutchins grew to around 250 residents in 1884 and topped 300 by 1890. That figure declined slightly to 204 in 1904, but had risen to 500 in 1926.
The Hutchins post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hutchins rank for history?
Hutchins is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #378 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 Hutchins?
0.7% of Hutchins’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1997.
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 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.
