Stephenville’s post office opened in 1878, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #107 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Stephenville was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 66 buildings. Below: maps from 1885 on and the census since 1860.
The Stephenville post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Stephensville (1857), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 120 in 18602020 census: 20,897148 years
How historic is Stephenville?
B
More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Stephenville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stephenville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stephenville is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #107 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stephenville’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 Stephenville’s 31.8 sits above most of its state (93% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 69 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. 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 Stephenville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Stephenville, building by building, 1885–1921
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.
1885Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Stephenville was founded by and named after John M. Stephen, who settled there in 1854, and donated the land for the townsite laid out by George B. Erath when the county was organized in 1856. In the first two years of its settlement, the population increased to 776. The population then declined until 1871, because the townsite was in Comanche territory and raids were common, and because the hardships of the American Civil War led citizens to leave. The population grew after Stephenville became an agricultural and livestock center. Coal mining also became important to the area in 1886, and was a major segment of the economy for 30 years.
Stephenville’s post office has been open since 1878. Another post office, Stephensville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Stephensville
1857–1878
Stephenville
1878–today
18501940today
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Stephenville
East MemorialMount OliveWest End
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Stephenville’s history
What year was Stephenville founded?
The Stephenville post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Stephenville rank for history?
Stephenville is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #107 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.
What is on the National Register in Stephenville?
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Erath County Courthouse (listed 1977, the first), 1 historic district, the Stephenville Downtown Historic District, with 66 contributing buildings, and 1 object. 69 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Stephenville?
6% of Stephenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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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