Van Alstyne’s post office opened in 1873, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #149 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Van Alstyne was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Its Register listing is the Umphress-Taylor House. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1870.
Founding year: the first Van Alstyne post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Van Alstyne’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Van Alstyne is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #149 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Van Alstyne’s 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 Van Alstyne’s 1.7 sits above most of its state (74% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). 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 Van Alstyne’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 year, then a sheet.
Drawn by the economic promise of the Houston and Texas Central Railway, Van Alstyne was founded in 1873 by settlers from the nearby community of Mantua. The community was named for Marie Van Alstyne, a Houston socialite and major shareholder in the railroad company.
A post office was opened that same year, and by the time Van Alstyne officially incorporated in 1890, the town had grown to a population of 400, supported by a thriving rural economy, a local newspaper, and a college. By the turn of the century, the population had reached 1,940, and the town supported a range of businesses, including multiple banks, a grain elevator, a roller mill, and a chemical company.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Van Alstyne, census by census
Grew from 213 people in 1870 to 4,369 in 2020, more than tenfold.
16 censuses, 1870–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Van Alstyne’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Van Alstyne’s history
What year was Van Alstyne founded?
The Van Alstyne post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Van Alstyne rank for history?
Van Alstyne is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #149 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.
What is on the National Register in Van Alstyne?
One place: the Umphress-Taylor House (listed 1986).
How old are the homes in Van Alstyne?
9% of Van Alstyne’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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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