More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #159 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Kaufman was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kaufman’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kaufman is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #159 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kaufman’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 Kaufman’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). Two sources give 1840.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Kaufman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Kaufman, 1840 to 1956
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Kaufman was founded as "Kings Fort", named after Dr. William P. King, who established the fort in 1840 after purchasing 2.5 square miles (6.5 km2) of land where the city is now located. The community was renamed "Kingsboro" after five years of growth. In 1852, Kingsboro was renamed "Kaufman" after the newly formed Kaufman County, which in turn was named after David S. Kaufman.
Kaufman was the first place that Bonnie Parker, of Bonnie and Clyde, was incarcerated.
Nearby Camp Kaufman was used as a German POW camp during World War II.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kaufman. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Kaufman 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 Kaufman.
People over time
Kaufman, census by census
Grew from 490 people in 1880 to 6,797 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kaufman’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Kaufman’s history
What year was Kaufman founded?
In 1840, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Kaufman’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1880 counted 490 people here.
How does Kaufman rank for history?
Kaufman is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #159 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 Kaufman?
7% of Kaufman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (5), Wikipedia, 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.
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