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History · Talco

Talco’s post office opened in 1910, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on and the census since 1940.

1910first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Talco began

When was Talco founded?

1910

The Talco post office opened in 1910, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 912 in 19402020 census: 494116 years
Founding year: the first Talco post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Talco’s past

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

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

Start Talco’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Talco came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Talco.

Read it all →

Two post offices were established near the current site of Talco: Gouldsboro in 1856, and Goolesboro in 1878. Due to name conflict, the community changed its name to "Talco" based on the Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana Candy Company initials on a candy wrapper. In 1912, Talco relocated to be closer to a railroad line.

Oil was discovered in 1936, leading to a big boom in the economy. Talco called itself the "asphalt capital of the world."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Talco, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Talco City Hall3 (1 of 1)2019Talco City Hall3 (1 of 1)TXMap-doton-Talco2004TXMap-doton-Talco
On the map

Talco on the map, 1964 to 1991

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

Talco on the 1964 USGS mapTalco on the 1985 USGS mapTalco on the 1991 USGS map1964Talco 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 Talco.

People over time

Talco, census by census

02004006008001,00019401960198020002020Peak: 1,024

Between 494 and 1,024 people in every census since 1940.

9 censuses, 1940–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Talco

Nobody well known was born in Talco itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Colleen HooverAmerican author · b. 1979
Tommie SmithAmerican track and field athlete · b. 1944
John Edward WilliamsAmerican writer · b. 1922
Louie GohmertUnited States Representative from Texas · b. 1953
Shangela Laquifa WadleyAmerican drag queen · b. 1981
Blake NeelyAmerican composer, conductor, and orchestrator · b. 1969

Questions about Talco’s history

What year was Talco founded?

The Talco post office opened in 1910, 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 →
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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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.