Founding year: the first Seagraves post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Seagraves’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Seagraves is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Seagraves’ 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 Seagraves’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Seagraves’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A post office at the home of S.J. Blythe occupied the area known as Blythe, Texas. In 1917, the Santa Fe Railroad moved into the vicinity, but the rail company ran into a problem. Santa Fe already had one town by that name located in Blythe, California. The company decided to change the name of this new location to honor Charles L. Seagraves, an employee who worked as a traveling agent and was favored by local residents. The Spearman Land Company building was the first to be erected, and the Higginbotham Bartlett Lumber Company followed shortly thereafter. Seagraves grew rapidly as a town, and in 1928, suffered a fire that burned a major portion of the business section. The only building left standing on the west side of Main Street was the Seagraves Motor Company, which led to the rebuilding of modern brick buildings, many of which remain today.
The Seagraves post office opened in 1921, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Seagraves rank for history?
Seagraves is more historic than 15% 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.
How old are the homes in Seagraves?
7% of Seagraves’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 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.