More historic than 6% of U.S. towns · #512 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Pelican Bay was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1990.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pelican Bay is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #512 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pelican Bay’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 Pelican Bay’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.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Pelican Bay’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pelican Bay yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pelican Bay is a city in the far northwest corner of Tarrant County, Texas, on the shore of Eagle Mountain Lake. Founded by Olen Yandell on his struggling dairy farm in 1970, it incorporated in 1981. Despite Yandell's aspirations to create a new Sausalito, Calif., Pelican Bay remains a modest enclave. The large majority of residences are mobile homes, and the roads and yards are tidy but a bit rough around the edges. The population was 2,049 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,547 to 2,049 (+32%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Pelican Bay is more historic than 6% of U.S. towns, #512 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.
How old are the homes in Pelican Bay?
0.0% of Pelican Bay’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.
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