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CHistory
History · Kyle

Kyle’s post office opened in 1880, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #230 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Kyle was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2010. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
4on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Kyle began

When was Kyle founded?

1880

The Kyle post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1881.

First census: 779 in 18902020 census: 45,697146 years

How historic is Kyle?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Kyle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1881.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kyle’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kyle is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #230 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kyle’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.4) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register4 listings, 5 historic buildings, 0.9 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 64%

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 Kyle’s 0.9 sits above most of its state (72% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1881 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 Kyle’s 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 Kyle are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1896 to 1922, drew every building in Kyle.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kyle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kyle’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
Every building

Kyle, building by building, 1896–1922

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.

Kyle fire insurance map, 1896, sheet 11896Sheet 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.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Kyle

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts
first listed
1981
Claiborne Kyle Log House
Kyle City HallKatherine Anne Porter HouseCora Jackman Donalson HouseClaiborne Kyle Log House
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mission1
L-Plan1
Queen Anne Revival1
Kyle City HallMission
Katherine Anne Porter HouseL-Plan
Cora Jackman Donalson HouseQueen Anne Revival
All 4 listings
Claiborne Kyle Log HouseBuilding · listed 1981

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Kyle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kyle.

Read it all →

As part of railroad expansion along the International-Great Northern Railroad (I&GN), railroad tycoon and entrepreneur Jay Gould found an opportunity for additional revenue between the cities of Austin and San Marcos which were lined with cotton fields and livestock farms. Originally, the railline was to cross over to Mountain City, located three miles (4.8 km) north of Kyle, but when addressing with his secretary, Ira Evans, it was seen as more cost effective to build a straight track from Austin to San Marcos which went right through the private lands of Fergus Kyle and his wife, Anne Moore. Following an agreement between the I&GN and the Kyle and Moore families, 200 acres were deeded to the railroad in exchange for $1.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kyle, 1876 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Born hereEdwin Jackson Kyle is born here
  3. 1880Post officeThe Kyle post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1915Born hereI.B. Donalson is born here
  6. 1916Born hereJack Creel is born here
  7. 1942Born hereJunior Coffey is born here
  8. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Kyle, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Kyle, TX, water tower IMG 48872011Kyle, TX, water tower IMG 4887Kyle, TX, Veterans Center IMG 48782011Kyle, TX, Veterans Center IMG 4878First Baptist Church, Kyle, TX IMG 48862011First Baptist Church, Kyle, TX IMG 4886Kyle Texas2010Kyle Texas1SB Soldiers interact with Texas school children via VTC DVIDS6532020071SB Soldiers interact with Texas school children via …Kyle, Texas (1)2005Kyle, Texas (1)
On the map

Kyle on the map, 1964 to 1995

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

Kyle on the 1964 USGS mapKyle on the 1973 USGS mapKyle on the 1995 USGS map1964San Marcos North 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 Kyle.

People over time

Kyle, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,000190019201940196019802000202045,697

Grew from 779 people in 1890 to 45,697 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Kyle

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Junior CoffeyAmerican football player · b. 1942
I
I.B. DonalsonColonel in the United States Air Force and flyi… · b. 1915
J
Jack CreelAmerican baseball player · b. 1916
Edwin Jackson KyleAmerican diplomat · b. 1876
J
J. Milton NanceAmerican historian · b. 1913
Otto Jürgen HofmannAmerican pipe organ builder · b. 1918
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Buda3 historic placesC+San Marcos40 historic placesB+Mountain CityIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Kyle’s history

What year was Kyle founded?

The Kyle post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1881.

How does Kyle rank for history?

Kyle is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #230 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 Kyle?

4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Claiborne Kyle Log House (listed 1981, the first). 5 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Kyle?

0.3% of Kyle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2010.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.