More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #336 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Lytle was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Lytle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lytle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lytle is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #336 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 Lytle’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 Lytle’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 C− 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 Lytle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lytle grew out of 321 acres (130 ha) located around the head of Atascosa Creek, patented to Henry Volkner in 1856. Volkner was the assignee of Mahan Matter, and the patent was signed by Elisha M. Pease, Governor of Texas. In 1870, Volkner sold the 321 acres for $175 to Fitch S. Adams. Lytle's first school was built on Adams' property with a verbal agreement that as long as the school building was there, the land it stood would belong to the school.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Lytle’s history
What year was Lytle founded?
The Lytle post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lytle rank for history?
Lytle is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #336 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 Lytle?
3% of Lytle’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 1977.
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 (12), Wikipedia, 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.
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