Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #228 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Port Lavaca was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1850.
The Port Lavaca post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Port Lavaca is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #228 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Port Lavaca’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 Port Lavaca’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1870 and 1890, then grew more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Port Lavaca’s Wikipedia page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveTexas - Port Lavaca through Quitman Mountains
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereNelva Gonzales Ramos is born here
Born hereHope Dworaczyk Smith is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Port Lavaca.
Port Lavaca was originally known as Lavaca. The town quickly grew as a result of the Linnville Raid of 1840, in which the town of Linville was decimated by the Comanche tribe and caused former residents of the town to settle in what is now Port Lavaca. Thomas McConnell purchased a section of land from Isidro Benavides and established the town using this land.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Port Lavaca. 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 Port Lavaca.
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 Port Lavaca’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Port Lavaca post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Port Lavaca is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #228 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.
1% of Port Lavaca’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1972.
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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