The story
Read it all →How New Boston came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of New Boston.
The Red River Expedition (1806) was stopped by the Spanish in the vicinity of the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C+History
History · New Boston
New Boston’s post office opened in 1877, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #205 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of New Boston was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Its Register listing is the Bowie County Jail. Below: maps from 1909 on and the census since 1870.
1877first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Quick answers
How New Boston began
When was New Boston founded?
1877
The New Boston post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 273 in 18702020 census: 4,612149 years
How historic is New Boston?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first New Boston post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Boston’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Boston is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #205 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 New Boston’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.6% of homes (±2.0) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 2.2 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 68%
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 New Boston’s 2.2 sits above most of its state (76% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.0 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 New Boston’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start New Boston’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Boston’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
New Boston on the map, 1909 to 1970
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Boston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1909New Boston sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Boston.
Timeline
New Boston, 1843 to 1996
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
New Boston, decade by decade
2018
2018
2018
2018
2015
2004On the National Register
1 historic place in New Boston
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Bowie County Jail
Buildings
All 1 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
New Boston, census by census
Between 257 and 5,057 people in every census since 1870.
14 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Boston’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in New Boston
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Old corners and places now gone
New Boston’s post office has been open since 1877.
Boston
New Boston
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Boston
Gone or out of use
Bowie County Jailbuilding
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about New Boston’s history
What year was New Boston founded?
The New Boston post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does New Boston rank for history?
New Boston is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #205 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 New Boston?
One place: the Bowie County Jail (listed 1977).
How old are the homes in New Boston?
3% of New Boston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1978.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.