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BHistory
History · Luling

Luling’s post office opened in 1874, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns · #81 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1880.

1874first post office
2on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Luling began

When was Luling founded?

1874

The Luling post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,114 in 18802020 census: 5,599152 years

How historic is Luling?

B

More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Luling’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Luling is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #81 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Luling’s overall grade.
Founding era1874, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.8% of homes (±5.5) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register2 listings, 9 historic buildings, 16.3 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 64%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 88%

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 Luling’s 16.3 sits above most of its state (89% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.5 points). 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 Luling’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 Luling are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1921, drew every building in Luling.Famous sons and daughtersMichael Dorn, Tamron Hall and 6 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Luling’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Luling’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

Luling, building by building, 1885–1921

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.

Luling fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 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.

Famous people

8 famous people were born in Luling

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

See all →
Michael DornAmerican actor · b. 1952
Tamron HallAmerican journalist, talk show host · b. 1970
R
Riley OdomsAmerican football player · b. 1950
Robert L. RutherfordAmerican general · b. 1938
B
Bo BurrisAmerican football player · b. 1944
C
Craig MagerAmerican football player · b. 1992
The story

How Luling came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Luling.

Read it all →

In the 1870s, the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway (GH&SA) built a railroad west from Alleyton on the Colorado River near Columbus towards San Antonio. In 1874, construction paused for about two years at a point 71 miles beyond the Colorado River. A small town developed at the railhead.

That town was named after a New York banker, Charles Luling. He was a personal friend of Thomas Wentworth Pierce and provided the financing for the GH&SA railroad as well the purchase of the land that became Luling. Prior to the founding of the town, a small farming community named Atlanta was established nearby, with residents associating themselves with the newly founded Luling, causing Atlanta to fade.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Luling, 1874 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Luling post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1938Born hereRobert L. Rutherford is born here
  6. 1950Born hereRiley Odoms is born here
  7. 1952Born hereMichael Dorn is born here
  8. 1970Born hereTamron Hall is born here
By decade

Luling, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Luling, Texas2012Luling, TexasEdgar B. Davis, Luling, Texas Historical Marker2012Edgar B. Davis, Luling, Texas Historical MarkerCity of Luling, Luling, Texas Historical Marker2012City of Luling, Luling, Texas Historical MarkerWorld's Largest Watermelon, Luling, Texas, Mar 20112011World's Largest Watermelon, Luling, Texas, Mar 2011Relic2011RelicLuling pump jack2005Luling pump jack
On the map

Luling on the map, 1929 to 1994

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

Luling on the 1929 USGS mapLuling on the 1964 USGS mapLuling on the 1973 USGS mapLuling on the 1994 USGS map1929Luling 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 Luling.

On the National Register

2 listings protect 9 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
State Highway 3-A Bridge at Plum Creek
State Highway 3-A Bridge at Plum CreekZedler Mill Historic District
DistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Parker Through Truss Bridge1
State Highway 3-A Bridge at Plum CreekParker Through Truss Bridge
All 2 listings
Zedler Mill Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2024

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

People over time

Luling, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,970

Between 1,114 and 5,970 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Questions about Luling’s history

What year was Luling founded?

The Luling post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Luling rank for history?

Luling is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns, #81 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 Luling?

Two places: the State Highway 3-A Bridge at Plum Creek (listed 1996) and the Zedler Mill Historic District (2024).

How old are the homes in Luling?

13% of Luling’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 (2), 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.