Jasper’s post office opened in 1836, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 62% of U.S. towns · #84 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Jasper was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listings are the Jasper County Courthouse and the Blake-Beaty-Orton House. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1955 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Jasper post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jasper’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jasper is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #84 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jasper’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 Jasper’s 2.7 sits above most of its state (78% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 points). 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 Jasper’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The area, which was then part of Mexican Texas, was settled around 1824 by John Bevil. Thirty families occupied the settlement as early as 1830, when it was known as "Snow River", after John R. Bevil, a hero of the American Revolution.
In 1835, the town was renamed after William Jasper, a soldier from the American Revolution, who was killed attempting to plant the American flag at the storming of Savannah in 1779. Jasper was one of the 23 original counties when the Republic of Texas was created in 1836. Jasper became the county seat in 1844 and became part of the United States with the annexation of Texas in 1845.
The Jasper post office opened in 1836, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Jasper rank for history?
Jasper is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #84 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 Jasper?
Two places: the Jasper County Courthouse (listed 1984) and the Blake-Beaty-Orton House (1975).
How old are the homes in Jasper?
4% of Jasper’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1978.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.
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