Richmond dates to 1837, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #98 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Richmond was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Richmond’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richmond is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #98 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Richmond’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 Richmond’s 3.2 sits above most of its state (78% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1837.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Richmond’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Richmond, 1837 to 1990
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1822, a group of Austin's colonists went up the Brazos River, stopping near present-day Richmond where they built a fort called "Fort Bend". Named after Richmond, England, the town was among the 19 cities first incorporated by the short-lived Republic of Texas, in 1837. Early residents of the city include many prominent figures in Texas lore such as Jane Long, Deaf Smith, and Mirabeau Lamar, who are all buried in Richmond, as is Walter Moses Burton, the nation's first Black elected sheriff. On August 16, 1889, the town was the site of the "Battle of Richmond", an armed fight culminating the Jaybird–Woodpecker War, a violent feud over post-Reconstruction political control of Fort Bend County. The mayor from 1949 until his death in 2012 was Hilmar Moore.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1837, according to Wikidata. Richmond’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1870 counted 816 people here.
How does Richmond rank for history?
Richmond is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #98 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 Richmond?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Fort Bend County Courthouse (listed 1980, the first).
How old are the homes in Richmond?
2% of Richmond’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (4), 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), 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.
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