More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #425 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Prosper was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2014. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1970.
The Prosper post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Parvin (1884), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 501 in 19702020 census: 30,174133 years
How historic is Prosper?
D
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Prosper post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Prosper’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Prosper is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #425 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Prosper’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 Prosper’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 (±0.3 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 Prosper’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlers arrived in 1846 to farm cotton in the black fertile prairie soil. Between 1850 and 1902, two settlements existed - Rock Hill was two miles south of the present town, and Richland was one mile north. The development of these small communities was expedited in 1876 when county courts ordered small tracts of land to be established for a quick sale. These tracts, each about 160 acres in size, were sold for $3.50 per acre. Dr. A. T. Bryant of McKinney purchased what later became the center of the present town.
The Prosper post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Prosper rank for history?
Prosper is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #425 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 Prosper?
0.0% of Prosper’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2014.
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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