Round Rock dates to 1851, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #203 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Round Rock was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 22 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Round Rock’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Round Rock is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #203 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Round Rock’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Round Rock ranks #283 on History.
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 Round Rock’s 2.0 sits above most of its state (75% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 25 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Round Rock’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.1 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1851.
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 Round Rock’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Round Rock’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Round Rock, building by building, 1885–1916
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.
As the area developed into a rural Anglo community, some of the modern paved roads followed the original Native-American pathways. One famous immigration route passed through Round Rock and is called the "Double File Trail" because the path was wide enough for two horsemen to ride side-by-side. It is part of a longer trail from North Texas that crossed the San Gabriel River in Georgetown, Brushy Creek in Round Rock, and the Colorado River in Austin.
In 1851, according to Wikidata. Round Rock’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 628 people here.
How does Round Rock rank for history?
Round Rock is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #203 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 Round Rock?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Capt. Nelson Merrell House (listed 1970, the first), and 1 historic district, the Round Rock Commercial Historic District, with 22 contributing buildings. 25 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Round Rock?
0.2% of Round Rock’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2002.
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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