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History · Tom Bean

Tom Bean’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Tom Bean was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Tom Bean began

When was Tom Bean founded?

1888

The Tom Bean post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 930138 years
Founding year: the first Tom Bean post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Tom Bean’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 Tom Bean are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Tom Bean’s history is told.

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

How Tom Bean came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tom Bean.

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On October 27, 1888, Tom Bean was founded on what was then a new branch of the Cotton Belt Railway between Commerce and Sherman, Texas.

The town was named by J.W. Pennell in honor of his friend Thomas C. Bean, who was a wealthy, eccentric land surveyor and donor of the land upon which the town was built. Bean, a bachelor who lived in Bonham, Fannin County, Texas owned a section of land at what ultimately became the town, and as an inducement for the railroad to build through that area, he donated land for the railroad right of way, and later 50 acres of land to be used for the townsite.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

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Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Tom Bean

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

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Chesley SullenbergerAmerican commercial airline pilot · b. 1951
John HillermanAmerican actor · b. 1932
Charlie ChristianAmerican swing and jazz guitarist · b. 1916
Buck OwensAmerican country singer-songwriter · b. 1929
D
Danny EverettAmerican athletics competitor · b. 1966
Denean HowardAthletics competitor, sprinter, 400 metres runn… · b. 1964

Questions about Tom Bean’s history

What year was Tom Bean founded?

The Tom Bean post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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

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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 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.