Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #201 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Tahoka was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1967. Its Register listing is the Lynn County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 1920.
The Tahoka post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tahoka is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #201 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Tahoka’s 8.3 sits above most of its state (85% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tahoka’s history is told.
Peaked at 3,262 in 1980; 2,375 people lived here in 2020.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Tahoka’s Wikipedia page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Tahoka yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Tahoka is a city in and the county seat of Lynn County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,375 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,673 to 2,375 (-11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Tahoka. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Tahoka.
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 sheet.
1925Sheet 1 of 5Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Tahoka post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Tahoka is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #201 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.
One place: the Lynn County Courthouse (listed 1982).
8% of Tahoka’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1967.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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