Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #66 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Nacogdoches was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1850.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nacogdoches is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #66 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Nacogdoches’ 77.3 sits above most of its state (95% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 249 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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.
The 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.
Lost a third of its people between 1870 and 1880, then grew more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Nacogdoches’ Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Nacogdoches.
Evidence of settlement in the area dates back to 10,000 years ago. Nacogdoches is on or near the site of Nevantin, the primary village of the Nacogdoche tribe of Caddo Indians.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereAlbert Thomas is born here
In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer June 3, 1936 FRONT AND…
In the archiveNacogdoches, Texas. Stand of pine which pulpwood is obtained
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereClint Dempsey is born here
Born hereBrandon Belt is born here
In the archiveJet Aircraft3 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…
1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…
1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…
1936Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes,…1943Nacogdoches, Texas. Stand of pine which pulpwood is o…
1943Nacogdoches, Texas. "Flathead" loading truck with pul…
1943Nacogdoches, Texas. "Flathead" loading truck with pul…
1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Nacogdoches, Tex…
1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Nacogdoches, Tex…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nacogdoches. 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 Nacogdoches.
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 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Nacogdoches’ page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Nacogdoches is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #66 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.
19 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Old Nacogdoches University Building (listed 1971, the first), and 5 historic districts with 232 contributing buildings. 249 historic buildings in all.
4% of Nacogdoches’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (19), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
2013
2013
