Kingsville dates to 1904, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 40% of U.S. towns · #180 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Kingsville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 49 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1920.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1860.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kingsville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kingsville is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #180 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kingsville’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 Kingsville’s 20.8 sits above most of its state (91% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 52 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1904.
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 →
What stands out about Kingsville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The history of Kingsville is closely intertwined with the city's main creek, the Santa Gertrudis. The first recorded inhabitants of the area were the Coahuiltecan Malaquites, surviving on seafood from nearby Baffin Bay, with settlements along the Santa Getrudis and San Fernando creeks, and the Cayo del Grullo branch of Baffin Bay. Large herds of mustangs roamed the south Texas plains, often drinking from the waters of spring fed creeks in and around present-day Kingsville. In 1803, Jose Lorenzo de la Garza established a settlement along the Santa Gertrudis. In 1846, General Zachary Taylor and his army camped along the banks of the Santa Gertrudis prior to their campaign into Mexico. In 1899, after many failed attempts, King ranch manager Robert J. Kleberg Jr., was finally able to tap into an underground lake of water. The discovery of readily accessible water paved the way for a future …
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kingsville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1954Kingsville 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 Kingsville.
Every building
Kingsville, building by building, 1915–1922
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.
In 1904, according to Wikidata. Kingsville’s post office opened in 1860, and the census of 1920 counted 4,770 people here.
How does Kingsville rank for history?
Kingsville is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns, #180 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 Kingsville?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the King, Henrietta M., High School (listed 1983, the first), and 1 historic district, the Kingsville Downtown Historic District, with 49 contributing buildings. 52 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Kingsville?
6% of Kingsville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
1908
1917
1918
1944
1980
