Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of San Augustine was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 243 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1936 on.
The San Augustine post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, San Augustine is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 San Augustine’s 1,217 sits above most of its state (100% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 250 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMatilda Coxe Stevenson is born here
In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer June 5, 1936 FRONT ELE…From Wikipedia’s history of San Augustine.
The first European settlement in the area began in 1717 with the establishment of Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de los Ais by Spanish missionaries. The mission was abandoned and re-established in 1721. It lasted until 1773 and is now preserved as Mission Dolores State Historic Site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on San Augustine’s page.
Retake this view · +15Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The San Augustine post office opened in 1835, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
San Augustine is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns. 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.
7 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Matthew Cartwright House (listed 1971, the first), and 2 historic districts, the San Augustine Residential Historic District and the San Augustine Commercial Historic District, with 243 contributing buildings. 250 historic buildings in all.
9% of San Augustine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1982.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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