Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Nixon was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1942 on, and the census since 1920.
The Nixon post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nixonville (1906), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nixon is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Nixon’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Nixon’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Nixon.
The history of Nixon is defined by the dissolution and struggle of some of its major institutions.
In 1852, Robert T. Nixon at the northern Gonzales—Guadalupe County line founded the original settlement of Nixon, now known as the ghost town "Old Nixon;" a former 14,000 acre plantation between Belmont-Luling.
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.
In the archiveFannie Andrews Nixon, mother of P. I. Nixon, ca. 1879, while serving as a school teacher
In the archiveTexas - Mission through
Born hereWeldon Humble is born here
Born hereAndre Marrou is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nixon. 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 Nixon.
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 Nixon’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,037 and 2,385 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Nixon’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Nixon’s post office has been open since 1908. Another post office, Nixonville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Nixon post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Nixon is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns. 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.
3% of Nixon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (6), 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.
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