Navasota dates to 1822, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #35 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Navasota was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 75 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Navasota’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Navasota is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #35 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Navasota’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 Navasota’s 91.3 sits above most of its state (95% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 78 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1822.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points).
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 →
What stands out about Navasota’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.
Every building
Navasota, building by building, 1885–1912
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 French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who was misguided in his 1687 attempt to locate the Mississippi River and trying to find his way back to French-held lands near the Great Lakes, came through the area that would become Navasota, where he was murdered by one of his men. After numerous voyages, explorations of the Mississippi River valley, and trading ventures and several mutinies, La Salle's bones are believed to have found their resting place in the Navasota Valley.
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.
In 1822, according to Wikidata. Navasota’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1870 counted 1,509 people here.
How does Navasota rank for history?
Navasota is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #35 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 Navasota?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the P. A. Smith Hotel (listed 1976, the first), and 1 historic district, the Navasota Commercial Historic District, with 75 contributing buildings. 78 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Navasota?
6% of Navasota’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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.
1936
1936
1936
1936
2006