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History · San Perlita

San Perlita’s post office opened in 1929, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1960.

1929first post office
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How San Perlita began

When was San Perlita founded?

1929

The San Perlita post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 348 in 19602020 census: 53897 years
Founding year: the first San Perlita post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start San Perlita’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how San Perlita’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

San Perlita, in brief

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

San Perlita (Santa Perlita) is a city in Willacy County, Texas, United States. The population was 538 at the 2020 census. It may be included as part of the Brownsville–Harlingen–Raymondville and the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan areas.

Its first post office opened in 1929. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 573 to 538 (-6%).

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

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

San Perlita on the map, 1956 to 1962

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

San Perlita on the 1956 USGS mapSan Perlita on the 1962 USGS map1956Port Isabel sheet · 1:250,000

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

People over time

San Perlita, census by census

01002003004005006007001960198020002020Peak: 680

Between 348 and 680 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to San Perlita

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

See all →
Bobby MorrowAmerican sprinter · b. 1935
Nick StahlAmerican actor · b. 1979
Beth Nielsen ChapmanAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1958
Filemon VelaAmerican politician · b. 1963
T
Tom BarkerAmerican basketball player · b. 1955
É
Éric MolinaAmerican boxer · b. 1982

Questions about San Perlita’s history

What year was San Perlita founded?

The San Perlita post office opened in 1929, 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.