Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns · #36 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Falls County Courthouse. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Marlin dates its founding to 1834 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.
More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Marlin is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #36 of 642 in Texas. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Marlin’s 1.8 sits above most of its state (75% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereBob Reeves is born here
In the archivePostcardMarlinTXBathHousesAndSanitoriumCirca1900to1910
In the archiveIrby Curry, the Marlin Marvel
In the archiveMarlin TX - A Drive Through a Marlin, Texas park (NBY 430358)
In the archive1957-10-29. Marlin, Texas, Norbest Turkey Plant, Historical Photo
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWriters, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Marlin.
The city of Marlin is located 4 miles (6 km) east of the Brazos River, which runs through the center of the county. The low falls on the river southwest of present-day Marlin was the site of Sarahville de Viesca, established in 1834 by Sterling C. Robertson.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1900PostcardMarlinTXBathHousesAndSanitoriumCirca1900to1910Postcard
c. 1900PostcardMarlinTXCottonCompressCirca1900to1910Postcard
c. 1900PostcardMarlinTXCourthouseCirca1900to1910Postcard
1900–1910PostcardMarlinTXMainStreetCirca1900to1910Postcard
1900PostcardMarlinTXNewHighSchoolCirca1900to1910Postcard
c. 1900PostcardMarlinTXSanitariumCirca1900to1910PostcardEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marlin. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Marlin.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Marlin’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 500 and 7,099 people in every census since 1870.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Marlin’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
In 1834, according to Wikidata. Marlin’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1870 counted 500 people here.
Marlin is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns, #36 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.
One place: the Falls County Courthouse (listed 2000).
14% of Marlin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1967.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
c. 1915
1940
2004
