Founding year: the first Splendora post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1966.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Splendora’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Splendora is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Splendora’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 Splendora’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 D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1966.
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 Splendora’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the late 1800s, The Houston, East and West Texas Railway (now the Union Pacific Railroad), at the suggestion of Charles Cox, decided to build a narrow-gauge spur at the location of what is now Splendora. The location was originally known as "Cox's Switch." The area slowly grew more populated after W.W. Burrow built a general store in the area in 1883. In 1896, Cox recommended to the town's postmaster, Milton Z. King, that the town's name should be changed. They decided to change the name to Splendora because of the "splendor of its floral environment." The town was incorporated in December 1966.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Splendora’s history
What year was Splendora founded?
The Splendora post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1966.
How does Splendora rank for history?
Splendora 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 Splendora?
0.4% of Splendora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (4), 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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