Plainview’s post office opened in 1887, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #127 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Plainview was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 82 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Plainview post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Plainview’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plainview is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #127 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Plainview’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 Plainview’s 41.6 sits above most of its state (93% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 82 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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 (±1.6 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 Plainview’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Plainview, building by building, 1910–1927
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Plainview began when Z. T. Maxwell and Edwin Lowden Lowe established a post office on March 18, 1887. The town received its name due to the vast treeless plain surrounding it. On July 3, 1888, the town received a charter, and it became the county seat in August the same year, when Hale County was organized.
In 1906, the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway reached Plainview, initiating an agricultural boom in the region. The city incorporated in 1907, and by 1910, it had almost 3,000 residents, earning the nickname "Athens of West Texas." Central Plains College and Conservatory of Music, later renamed Seth Ward College, was founded in 1907, and Wayland Baptist College (now Wayland Baptist University) was established in 1909.
The Plainview post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Plainview rank for history?
Plainview is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #127 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 Plainview?
One place: the Plainview Commercial Historic District (listed 1982).
How old are the homes in Plainview?
3% of Plainview’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1970.
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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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