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CHistory
History · Little Elm

Little Elm dates to 1844

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #239 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Little Elm was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1880.

1844founded
0on the National Register
0.4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Lakeviews · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Little Elm began

When was Little Elm founded?

1844

Little Elm dates its founding to 1844 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 116 in 18802020 census: 46,453182 years

How historic is Little Elm?

C

More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Little Elm’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Little Elm is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #239 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Little Elm’s overall grade.
Founding era1844, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19400.4% of homes (±0.4) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 31%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 63%

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 Little Elm’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 B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1844.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Little Elm’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 Little Elm are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Little Elm, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsEstablished in 1844: 182 years of Little Elm.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Little Elm’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Little Elm’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Little Elm’s post office has been open since 1852. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Little Elm
1852–today
Lloyd
1877–1907
Navo
1884–1907
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lincoln ParkNavo
Gone or out of use
Cottonwood ParkparkDoe Branch Parkpark
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Little Elm
Little ElmLloyd

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

Timeline

Little Elm, 1844 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844
    FoundingLittle Elm is established
  3. 1852Post officeThe Little Elm post office opens
  4. 1877Post officeThe Lloyd post office opens
  5. 1884Post officeThe Navo post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906Born hereSamuel S. Wilks is born here
  8. 1907Post officeThe Lloyd post office closes
  9. 1907Post officeThe Navo post office closes
  10. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Little Elm came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Little Elm.

Read it all →

Little Elm was established along Lewisville Lake by C.C. "Kit" King, son of John and Delilah King, in 1844. King named the community after the creek banks where it was located. King helped organize mail service for the area and in 1852 was named the postmaster of Denton County's first post office. The population was very low throughout the first half of the 20th century, but in 1966, the community was able to officially incorporate. The first official census for the town came in 1970, which recorded 363 persons.

On March 2, 2023, a very powerful storm came through North Texas. It caused damages across the area but most notably, a supermarket's facade was completely torn off, covering several automobiles parked in the parking lot.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Little Elm, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Jerry R. Walker Middle School, Little Elm ISD, Little Elm, Texas 20192019Jerry R. Walker Middle School, Little Elm ISD, Little…LEHS Main Corridor2018LEHS Main CorridorPaloma Creek, Texas2016Paloma Creek, TexasLittle Elm ISD Athletic Complex Stadium2016Little Elm ISD Athletic Complex StadiumLittle Elm High School, LEISD2016Little Elm High School, LEISDBeard Park in2016Beard Park in
On the map

Little Elm on the map, 1929 to 1960

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

Little Elm on the 1929 USGS mapLittle Elm on the 1960 USGS map1929Frisco 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 Little Elm.

People over time

Little Elm, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,0001880190019201940196019802000202046,453

Grew from 116 people in 1880 to 46,453 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

The ColonyIts storyD−Providence VillageIts storyD−FriscoIts storyD−SavannahIts storyDOak PointIts storyD−AubreyIts storyC−Lakewood VillageIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townProsperIts storyD

Questions about Little Elm’s history

What year was Little Elm founded?

In 1844, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Little Elm’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1880 counted 116 people here.

How does Little Elm rank for history?

Little Elm is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #239 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 Little Elm?

0.4% of Little Elm’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2011.

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), 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.