Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Raymondville

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C−History
History · Raymondville

Raymondville’s post office opened in 1904, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #324 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Raymondville was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the Willacy County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1930.

1904first post office
1on the National Register
0.9%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Raymondville began

When was Raymondville founded?

1904

The Raymondville post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,050 in 19302020 census: 10,236122 years

How historic is Raymondville?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Raymondville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Raymondville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Raymondville is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #324 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Raymondville’s overall grade.
Founding era1904, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19400.9% of homes (±1.0) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 2.0 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 50%

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 Raymondville’s 2.0 sits above most of its state (75% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±1.0 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 Raymondville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Raymondville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Raymondville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Raymondville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Raymondville, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Raymondville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Raymondville is a city in and the county seat of Willacy County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,236 at the 2020 census. Willacy County is also the Raymondville micropolitan area. Raymondville was formed in 1904 by Edward Burleson Raymond, a foreman of the El Sauz Ranch portion of the King Ranch and owner of the Las Majadas Ranch.

Its first post office opened in 1904. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 11,284 to 10,236 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Raymondville, 1904 to 1982

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Raymondville post office opens
  3. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1982Born hereÉric Molina is born here
By decade

Raymondville, decade by decade

Today6 recent
FEMA - 37269 - Aerial of flooded neighborhood in Texas2008FEMA - 37269 - Aerial of flooded neighborhood in TexasFEMA - 37268 - Flooded neighborhood in Texas2008FEMA - 37268 - Flooded neighborhood in TexasFEMA - 37266 - Aerial of flooded neighborhood in Texas2008FEMA - 37266 - Aerial of flooded neighborhood in TexasFEMA - 37265 - Flooded neighborhood in Texas2008FEMA - 37265 - Flooded neighborhood in TexasBHR CSA2007BHR CSATXMap-doton-Raymondville2004TXMap-doton-Raymondville
On the map

Raymondville on the map, 1956 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Raymondville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Raymondville on the 1956 USGS mapRaymondville on the 1970 USGS mapRaymondville on the 1982 USGS map1956Raymondville sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Raymondville.

Every building

Raymondville, building by building, 1930

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 sheet.

Raymondville fire insurance map, 1930, sheet 11930Sheet 1 of 7
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Raymondville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2017
Willacy County Courthouse
Willacy County Courthouse
Buildings
Willacy County CourthouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Raymondville, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00019401960198020002020Peak: 11,284

Between 2,050 and 11,284 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Raymondville’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Raymondville’s history

What year was Raymondville founded?

The Raymondville post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Raymondville rank for history?

Raymondville is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #324 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 Raymondville?

One place: the Willacy County Courthouse (listed 2017).

How old are the homes in Raymondville?

0.9% of Raymondville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1981.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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), 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.