Most of Lyford was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listing is the Old Lyford High School. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Lyford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Lyford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lyford is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lyford’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 Lyford’s 4.9 sits above most of its state (82% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 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 Lyford’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 Lyford yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lyford is a city in Willacy County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,249 at the 2020 census. It may be included as part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas.
Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,611 to 2,249 (-14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lyford’s history
What year was Lyford founded?
The Lyford post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lyford rank for history?
Lyford is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. 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 Lyford?
One place: the Old Lyford High School (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Lyford?
2% of Lyford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
