On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Olmos Park is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Olmos Park’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 Olmos Park’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.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1939.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 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 Olmos Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Olmos Park was developed in the 1920s as an exclusive suburb of San Antonio, which today completely surrounds it. H.C. Thorman, a renowned oilman and real estate tycoon, purchased property from an Austrian count and developed it into the posh Olmos Park. The city occupied the site where Camp John Wise was built in 1917. Camp John Wise was a US Army balloonist training site. The camp shut down in 1919 when the balloonist training was moved to nearby Brooks Field.
Olmos Park is more historic than 42% 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.
How old are the homes in Olmos Park?
46% of Olmos Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1943.
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 Wikipedia 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.
