More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #591 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Kermit was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1968. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1970 on, and the census since 1940.
Founding year: the first Kermit post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1938.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kermit’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kermit is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #591 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kermit’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 Kermit’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 D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1938 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Kermit’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Kermit began as a convenient supply center for the scattered ranches of the area and became the seat of Winkler County when the county was organized in 1910. The first public school and the post office opened the same year. The town's namesake, Kermit Roosevelt, once visited the T Bar Ranch in northern Winkler County to hunt pronghorn a few months before the town was named. In 1916, the county suffered a drought. Many homesteaders and ranchers were forced to leave. In 1924, only Ern Baird's family remained in the town. Only one student attended school in the county for five months of 1924. Only three houses and the courthouse were in use by 1926.
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 Kermit post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1938.
How does Kermit rank for history?
Kermit is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #591 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 Kermit?
0.0% of Kermit’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1968.
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 (6), 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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