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Neches Texas Post Office 2019Photo: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0
–Not graded
History · Neches

Neches’ post office opened in 1892, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1939 on.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Neches’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Neches began

When was Neches founded?

1892

The Neches post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nechesville (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 266134 years
Founding year: the first Neches post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Neches came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Neches.

Read it all →

In 1872, the International-Great Northern Railroad was built through the area of Neches. J.J. Davis and Murdock McDonald, local landowners, donated land to be used for the expansion of the townsite and a train station.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Neches, 1872 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Nechesville post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Nechesville post office closes
  4. 1892Post officeThe Neches post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1939In the archiveTruckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississippi where they had been picking cott…
By decade

Neches, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s6 items
Truckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississippi where they had been picking cotton. Highway near Neches, Texas…1939Truckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississi…Truckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississippi where they had been picking cotton. Highway near Neches, Texas…1939Truckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississi…Truckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississippi where they had been picking cotton. Highway near Neches, Texas…1939Truckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississi…Truckload of Mexican migrants returning to their homes in the Rio Grande Valley from Mississippi where they had been pi…1939Truckload of Mexican migrants returning to their home…Truckload of Mexican migrants returning to their homes in the Rio Grande Valley from Mississippi where they had been pi…1939Truckload of Mexican migrants returning to their home…Mexican migrant boy drinking out of water hose at filling station where the truck which is taking him home from Mississ…1939Mexican migrant boy drinking out of water hose at fil…
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Truckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississippi where they had been picking cotton. Highway near Neches, Texas…
Retake this viewTruckload of Mexican migrants returning from Mississippi where they had been picking cotton. Highway near Neches, Texas…, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Neches’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Neches

Nobody well known was born in Neches itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Patrick MahomesAmerican football player · b. 1995
Margo MartindaleAmerican actress · b. 1951
Frank BeardAmerican drummer · b. 1949
Larry JohnsonAmerican basketball player · b. 1969
Dooley WilsonAmerican actor and musician · b. 1886
Adrian PetersonAmerican football player · b. 1985
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Neches’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Nechesville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Nechesville
1872–1892
Neches
1892–today
18701950today
1cemetery inside Neches
Neches

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

Help out

Finish Neches’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTruckload of Mexican migrants returning…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Neches’ history

What year was Neches founded?

The Neches post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From the Library of Congress (6), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.