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C−History
History · Midlothian

Midlothian’s post office opened in 1882

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #349 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Midlothian was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2007. Below: maps from 1898 on and the census since 1890.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Midlothian began

When was Midlothian founded?

1882

The Midlothian post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 297 in 18902020 census: 35,125144 years

How historic is Midlothian?

C−

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Midlothian’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Midlothian is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #349 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 Midlothian’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.5% of homes (±1.1) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 18%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 46%

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 Midlothian’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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Midlothian’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 Midlothian are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1898 to 1921, drew every building in Midlothian.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Midlothian’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Midlothian’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

Midlothian, building by building, 1898–1921

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.

Midlothian fire insurance map, 1898, sheet 11898Sheet 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.

The story

How Midlothian came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Midlothian.

Read it all →

In the early 1800s, settlements began to take place in the area that became Ellis County, but full colonization of this area was slow until 1846, when the US finalized peace treaties initiated by Sam Houston between several of the indigenous inhabitants of the region and the Republic of Texas. The earliest inhabitants of this area were the Tonkawa people, but other tribes also hunted in this area, including the Anadarko, Bidai, Kickapoo, and Waco peoples.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Midlothian, 1882 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Midlothian post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1919Born hereJack P. Lewis is born here
  5. 1946Born hereChuck Beatty is born here
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Midlothian, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Downtown Midlothian 1 Wiki (1 of 1)2021Downtown Midlothian 1 Wiki (1 of 1)Trotter House Midlothian Texas(1 of 1)2019Trotter House Midlothian Texas(1 of 1)Trotter House (1 of 1)2019Trotter House (1 of 1)Hawkins House Midlothian Texas(1 of 1)2019Hawkins House Midlothian Texas(1 of 1)Hawkins House (1 of 1)2019Hawkins House (1 of 1)MidlothianTx1 (1 of 1)2017MidlothianTx1 (1 of 1)MidlothianTXPolice2015MidlothianTXPoliceCamp Hoblitzelle, Midlothian, Texas, reflection of cross over lake, September 2015, rotated 180 degrees2015Camp Hoblitzelle, Midlothian, Texas, reflection of cr…Midlothian2011MidlothianCement plant in2009Cement plant inSigncloseup2006SigncloseupHolcimCementPlant2006HolcimCementPlant
On the map

Midlothian on the map, 1961 to 1978

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

Midlothian on the 1961 USGS mapMidlothian on the 1978 USGS map1961Midlothian sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Midlothian.

People over time

Midlothian, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,000190019201940196019802000202035,125

Grew from 297 people in 1890 to 35,125 in 2020, more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Midlothian

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

See all →
C
Chuck BeattyPlayer of American football · b. 1946
Janice RichAmerican politician from Colorado
J
Jack P. LewisAmerican Bible scholar · b. 1919
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Midlothian’s post office has been open since 1882.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Ward
Gone or out of use
Flying B Ranch Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Midlothian
Mount ZionNewton

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Waxahachie75 historic placesBGrand PrairieIts storyC−Cedar Hill5 historic placesB

Questions about Midlothian’s history

What year was Midlothian founded?

The Midlothian post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Midlothian rank for history?

Midlothian is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #349 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 Midlothian?

2% of Midlothian’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2007.

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 (12), 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.