Most of Three Rivers was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1927 on and the census since 1930.
The Three Rivers post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hamiltonburg (1913), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,275 in 19302020 census: 1,474112 years
How historic is Three Rivers?
D
More historic than 8% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Three Rivers post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Three Rivers’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Three Rivers is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Three Rivers’ 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 Three Rivers’ 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 still be D. 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 Three Rivers’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mrs. Annie T. Hamilton of Cuero owned a tract of land in the Brush Country where Three Rivers now sits. At the urging of Mrs. Hamilton, Charles R. Tips came to the Brush Country. In 1913, Mrs. Hamilton paid the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf Railroad to build a depot on her land. Tips organized a townsite company and sold land for the township. On July 4, 1913, the town began with a grand opening and first sale of land. From its formation, it was designed as a segregated township, with the "Mexican" section located between the river and the railroad tracks, west of the business section. This can still be seen today in the differences of street names, though forced segregation ended many decades past.
Three Rivers’s post office has been open since 1914. Another post office, Hamiltonburg, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamiltonburg
1913–1914
Three Rivers
1914–today
19101970today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Three Rivers’ history
What year was Three Rivers founded?
The Three Rivers post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Three Rivers rank for history?
Three Rivers is more historic than 8% 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 Three Rivers?
1% of Three Rivers’ 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 1981.
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 (7), 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.
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