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History · Sunset

Sunset’s post office opened in 1884, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 2000.

1884first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sunset’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sunset began

When was Sunset founded?

1884

The Sunset post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 339 in 20002020 census: 543142 years
Founding year: the first Sunset post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sunset’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sunset’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sunset’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSunset, Montague Co., Texas, 1890: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Sunset came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sunset.

Read it all →

On April 9, 2009, the community was evacuated in advance of approaching wildfires. The fires ripped through the town in "patchwork fashion", destroying many homes and businesses.

Chapters2009 wildfires

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Sunset, 1884 to 1961

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1884Post officeThe Sunset post office opens
  3. 1890In the archiveOld map-Sunset-1890
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904Born hereMax West is born here
  6. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Sunset, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s2 items
Old map-Sunset-18901890Old map-Sunset-1890MapSunset, Montague Co., Texas, 18901890Sunset, Montague Co., Texas, 1890
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
Sunset-2017NorthView2017Sunset-2017NorthViewSunset-2017 (South View)2017Sunset-2017 (South View)Sunset Aerial 20172017Sunset Aerial 2017Sunset TX2013Sunset TX
On the map

Sunset on the map, 1961 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sunset. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sunset on the 1961 USGS mapSunset on the 1978 USGS mapSunset on the 1985 USGS mapSunset on the 1991 USGS map1961Sunset 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 Sunset.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Sunset, Montague Co., Texas, 1890
Retake this viewSunset, Montague Co., Texas, 1890, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sunset’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Sunset, census by census

010020030040050060020002020Peak: 543

Between 339 and 543 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sunset’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Sunset’s history

What year was Sunset founded?

The Sunset post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

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) 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.