More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #291 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Snyder was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Snyder post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Snyder’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Snyder is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #291 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Snyder’s 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 Snyder’s 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 C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 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 Snyder’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Snyder is named for merchant and buffalo hunter William Henry (Pete) Snyder, who built a trading post on Deep Creek in 1878. It soon drew fellow hunters, and a small settlement grew up around the post. The nature of those early dwellings, mostly constructed of buffalo hide and tree branches, led to the community's first, if unofficial, name of "Hide Town". Another early name, "Robber's Roost", is said to owe its beginnings to the sometimes nefarious nature of a few residents and a lack of law enforcement. A statue of an albino buffalo on the grounds of the Scurry County Courthouse in Snyder pays homage to the town's beginnings as a buffalo-trading post.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Snyder. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1952Snyder sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Snyder.
People over time
Snyder, census by census
Between 500 and 13,850 people in every census since 1890.
13 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Snyder’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Snyder’s history
What year was Snyder founded?
The Snyder post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Snyder rank for history?
Snyder is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #291 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.
How old are the homes in Snyder?
6% of Snyder’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1966.
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), 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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