Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #610 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Universal City was built recently: 0.6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1970.
The Universal City post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 3% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Universal City is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #610 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 Universal City’s 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.
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 Universal City’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Universal City.
The earliest portion of what would later become Universal City, Texas was platted on January 30, 1931. Universal City was later incorporated as a home-rule city on April 20, 1960. The main transportation corridor running through Universal City is Pat Booker Road (State Highway 218), the commercial thoroughfare of the city.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Universal City. 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 Universal City.
Grew from 7,613 people in 1970 to 19,720 in 2020.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Universal City’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Universal City itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Universal City post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Universal City is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #610 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.
0.6% of Universal City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), 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.
2024
2024
2015
2010
2004
