The story
Read it all →How Lubbock came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Lubbock.
In 1867, the land that would become Lubbock was the heart of Comancheria, the shifting domain controlled by the Comanche.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Lubbock
Lubbock’s post office opened in 1884, and 17 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #133 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Lubbock was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 17 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 427 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1910.
1884first post office
17on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
39famous people
Quick answers
How Lubbock began
When was Lubbock founded?
1884
The Lubbock post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1890.
First census: 1,938 in 19102020 census: 257,141142 years
How historic is Lubbock?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lubbock post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lubbock’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lubbock is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #133 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lubbock’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.3% of homes (±0.3) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register17 listings, 442 historic buildings, 16.7 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 50%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 79%
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Lubbock ranks #241 on History.
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 Lubbock’s 16.7 sits above most of its state (89% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 442 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Lubbock’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1890 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 Lubbock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A historic districtThe South Overton Residential Historic District takes in 393 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register17 places on the National Register.Famous sons and daughtersBuddy Holly, Chace Crawford and 37 more were born here.
★ What stands out · On the National Register
17 listings protect 442 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
17
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
442
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Warren and Myrta Bacon House
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Colonial Revival3
Bungalow2
Mission Revival2
Pueblo Revival2
Spanish Colonial Revival2
Spanish Renaissance Revival1
Warren and Myrta Bacon HouseColonial Revival
Lubbock High SchoolSpanish Renaissance Revival · Built 1891
Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway DepotMission/Spanish Colonial Revival
Tubbs-Carlisle HouseQueen Anne
Fred and Annie Snyder HouseColonial Revival
Texas Technological College Dairy BarnBarn
Kress BuildingMission Revival
William Curry and Olive Price Holden HousePueblo Revival · Built 1931
All 17 listings
Lubbock Post Office and Federal BuildingBuilding · listed 1995Texas Technological College Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996Cactus TheaterBuilding · listed 1998Holden Properties Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1998South Overton Residential Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1996Lubbock County JailBuilding · listed 2018Great Plains Life Insurance Company BuildingBuilding · listed 2021In Town InnBuilding · listed 2022Pittsburgh Plate Glass CompanyBuilding · listed 2026
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Help out
Start Lubbock’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lubbock’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Lubbock, 1884 to 1998
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1884Post officeThe Lubbock post office opens
- 1891BuiltLubbock High School is built
- 20th century
- 1917
In the archiveTexas - 1931BuiltWilliam Curry and Olive Price Holden House is built
- 1936
Born hereBuddy Holly is born here - 1957
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1968Born hereConrad Vernon is born here
- 1985
Born hereChace Crawford is born here - 1998
Born hereTrae Young is born here
By decade
Lubbock, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1917
1917
19171920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Lubbock on the map, 1957 to 1970
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lubbock. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1957Lubbock East sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lubbock.
Every building
Lubbock, building by building, 1916–1926
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.
1916Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewTexas, 1917
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lubbock’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Lubbock, census by census
Grew from 1,938 people in 1910 to 257,141 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lubbock’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →39 famous people were born in Lubbock
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
C
Conrad VernonAmerican film and television director, storyboa… · b. 1968
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Lubbock’s post office has been open since 1884.
Hamlets and corners on the map
CarlisleDoudWest CarlisleWest End Place
Gone or out of use
Lubbock Oil FieldoilfieldSouth Plains Army Air Fieldmilitary
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lubbock
CarlisleCity of LubbockResthaven
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lubbock’s history
What year was Lubbock founded?
The Lubbock post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.
How does Lubbock rank for history?
Lubbock is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #133 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 Lubbock?
17 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Warren and Myrta Bacon House (listed 1982, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Texas Technological College Historic District, the Holden Properties Historic District and the South Overton Residential Historic District, with 427 contributing buildings. 442 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lubbock?
2% of Lubbock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1984.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (17), 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.