Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #378 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Santa Fe was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Christensen Castle. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1980.
The Santa Fe post office opened in 1983, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Arcadia (1891) and Alta Loma (1894), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Santa Fe is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #378 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Santa Fe’s 0.8 sits above most of its state (72% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Santa Fe’s history is told.
Santa Fe’s post office has been open since 1983. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Santa Fe.
In 1877, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was built through the western part of Galveston county. By the turn of the century, three small, unincorporated towns had formed along the railway: Alta Loma, Arcadia, and Algoa. The Santa Fe Independent School District, which was named after the railway, was established shortly afterward to serve the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Santa Fe. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Santa Fe.
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.
Grew from 6,172 people in 1980 to 12,735 in 2020.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Santa Fe’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Santa Fe itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Santa Fe post office opened in 1983, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Santa Fe is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #378 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.
One place: the Christensen Castle (listed 2025).
0.9% of Santa Fe’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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