More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #591 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of La Paloma was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 2000.
Founding year: the first La Paloma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives La Paloma’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, La Paloma 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 La Paloma’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 La Paloma’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 (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 La Paloma’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of La Paloma yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
La Paloma (Spanish: The Dove) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Cameron County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,903 at the 2010 census, up from 354 at the 2000 census, when it was drawn to cover a much smaller area. By the 2020 census, the population further increased to 3,218. It is part of the Brownsville–Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Its first post office opened in 1912. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,903 to 3,218 (+11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
La Paloma, 1912 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The La Paloma post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does La Paloma rank for history?
La Paloma 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 La Paloma?
0.0% of La Paloma’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 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.
