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History · Relampago

Relampago’s post office opened in 1910

Most of Relampago was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 2000.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Relampago began

When was Relampago founded?

1910

The Relampago post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 104 in 20002020 census: 129116 years
Founding year: the first Relampago post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Relampago’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 Relampago are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Relampago’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Relampago, in brief

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

Relampago is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 129 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the McAllen–Edinburg–Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town was named for the Relampago Ranch, a rancho started in 1856 by José María Mora and Thaddeus Rhodes. Relámpago is Spanish and Portuguese for "lightning flash." The town for some years has been a first stop on the so-called ferrocarril subterráneo for migrants.

Its first post office opened in 1910. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 132 to 129 (-2%).

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

Timeline

Relampago, 1910 to 1956

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Relampago post office opens
  3. 1918Post officeThe Relampago post office closes
  4. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Relampago on the map, 1956 to 2002

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

Relampago on the 1956 USGS mapRelampago on the 1970 USGS mapRelampago on the 2002 USGS map1956Progreso 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 Relampago.

People over time

Relampago, census by census

010020002020Peak: 132

Between 104 and 132 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Relampago

Nobody well known was born in Relampago itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Raquel RodriguezAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1991
David SpielbergAmerican actor · b. 1939
Kika de la GarzaAmerican politician · b. 1927
O
Omar FigueroaAmerican boxer · b. 1989
B
Brandon FigueroaAmerican boxer · b. 1996
Rolando HinojosaAmerican writer · b. 1929
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Relampago had its own post office from 1910 to 1918.

Relampago
1910–1918
19101970today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Relampago’s history

What year was Relampago founded?

The Relampago post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From 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.