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History · Kress

Kress’ post office opened in 1908

Most of Kress was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1960.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: USDA NRCS Texas · Public domain
Quick answers

How Kress began

When was Kress founded?

1908

The Kress post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wright (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 438 in 19602020 census: 596118 years
Founding year: the first Kress post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Kress’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Kress are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 826 in 2000; 596 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kress’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kress’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Kress, census by census

02004006008001960198020002020Peak: 826

Peaked at 826 in 2000; 596 people lived here in 2020.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kress’ Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Kress, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kress yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Kress is a city in Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 596 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1908. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 715 to 596 (-17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Kress, 1891 to 2000

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Wright post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908Post officeThe Wright post office closes
  5. 1908Post officeThe Kress post office opens
  6. 1953Born hereStella Garza-Hicks is born here
  7. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 826
By decade

Kress, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Kress, Texas water tower north of Plainview2010Kress, Texas water tower north of PlainviewTXMap-doton-Kress2004TXMap-doton-Kress
On the map

Kress on the map, 1969 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kress. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Kress on the 1969 USGS mapKress on the 1985 USGS map1969Kress East sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kress.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Kress’s post office has been open since 1908. Another post office, Wright, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wright
1891–1908
Kress
1908–today
18901960today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Kress’ history

What year was Kress founded?

The Kress post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.