Mission’s post office opened in 1907, and 10 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #243 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Mission was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2000. 10 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 246 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1920.
The Mission post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1910. Another post office, Madero (1915), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 3,847 in 19202020 census: 85,778119 years
How historic is Mission?
C
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Mission post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1910.
History grade
What drives Mission’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mission is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #243 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mission’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 Mission’s 32.2 sits above most of its state (93% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 280 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1910 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Mission’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Mission’s post office has been open since 1907. Another post office, Madero, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mission
1907–today
Madero
1915–1917
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Ala Blanca Colonia Number 1Ala Blanca Colonia Number 2Ala Blanca Colonia Number 3Ala Blanca Colonia Number 4Ala Blanca Norte Number 1 ColoniaAla Blanca Norte Number 2 ColoniaAla Blanca Norte Number 3 ColoniaAla Blanca Norte Number 4 ColoniaAlex Cavazos ColoniaBasham Number 2 ColoniaBasham Number 6 ColoniaBasham Number 7 ColoniaBlue Rock ColoniaBodine ColoniaCarlos G Leal, Junior ColoniaCitrus Hills ColoniaConway Plaza ColoniaCoronado ColoniaJessan ColoniaLa LomitaLas Brisas ColoniaLeona ColoniaLeslie ColoniaMadero
Gone or out of use
Putz Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mission
Laurel HillRio Grande Valley State Veterans
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Mission’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mission’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mission yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mission is a city in Hidalgo County, in the US state of Texas. Its population was 85,778 at the 2020 census and an estimated 86,635 in 2022. Mission is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission and Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan areas.
Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 77,058 to 85,778 (+11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Mission, 1907 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mission. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Mission 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 Mission.
Every building
Mission, building by building, 1919–1925
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.
The Mission post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1910.
How does Mission rank for history?
Mission is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #243 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 Mission?
10 listings: 7 buildings and 3 historic districts, the La Lomita Historic District, the Oblate Park Historic district and the Shary Heights, with 246 contributing buildings. 280 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Mission?
0.3% of Mission’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2000.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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.
1917
2014
2010
2004
