More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #202 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Mount Pleasant was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1870.
Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers
How Mount Pleasant began
When was Mount Pleasant founded?
1847
The Mount Pleasant post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Ripley (1872), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 275 in 18702020 census: 16,047179 years
How historic is Mount Pleasant?
C+
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Mount Pleasant post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mount Pleasant’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Pleasant is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #202 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 Mount Pleasant’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 Mount Pleasant’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 B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 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 Mount Pleasant’s past
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 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Famous people
22 famous people were born in Mount Pleasant
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Mount Pleasant was founded May 11, 1848, to serve as county seat for Titus County, which was created by a legislative act on May 11, 1846. Until after the Civil War, Titus County also included the territory of present-day Franklin and Morris Counties. High waters along the creeks and the Sulphur River often halted travel in the early years.
In the 21st century, Titus County comprises the Mount Pleasant micropolitan statistical area, named for the county seat.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Pleasant. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1965Mount Pleasant 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 Mount Pleasant.
People over time
Mount Pleasant, census by census
Grew from 275 people in 1870 to 16,047 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Pleasant’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Mount Pleasant’s post office has been open since 1847. Another post office, Ripley, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mount Pleasant
1847–today
Ripley
1872–1926
18401930today
Gone or out of use
Mount Pleasant Municipal Airportairport
1cemetery inside Mount Pleasant
Edwards
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Mount Pleasant’s history
What year was Mount Pleasant founded?
The Mount Pleasant post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Mount Pleasant rank for history?
Mount Pleasant is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #202 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 Mount Pleasant?
2% of Mount Pleasant’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (9), 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.
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