The Poth post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Marcelena (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,819125 years
How historic is Poth?
C−
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Poth post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Poth’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Poth is more historic than 15% 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 Poth’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 Poth’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). 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 Poth’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The city was originally named Marcelina when it was established in 1886 for employees of the railway between San Antonio and Aransas Pass, but renamed in 1901 for Arnold H. Poth, who owned a cotton processing business.
In 1970, the city made national news when almost all of its citizens (more than 1,100 out of 1,296) agreed to be inoculated with the oral polio vaccine when one of the city's children contracted polio.
Poth’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, Marcelena, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Marcelena
1887–1906
Poth
1901–today
18801950today
1cemetery inside Poth
Lutheran
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Poth’s history
What year was Poth founded?
The Poth post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Poth rank for history?
Poth is more historic than 15% 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 Poth?
7% of Poth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
Date?
2018
2004