Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Vega

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Vega

Vega dates to 1903, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1966 on and the census since 1930.

1903founded
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Vega began

When was Vega founded?

1903

Vega dates its founding to 1903 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 519 in 19302020 census: 879123 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1904.The full story ↓

What stands out about Vega’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 Vega are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Vega’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Vega came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vega.

Read it all →

In 1879, the area was opened by the state for homesteading. The first settler, N.J. Whitfield, arrived in 1899. On October 17, 1899, he purchased part of Oldham County known as Section 90 at a per-acre rate of US$1 (equivalent to $38.7 in 2025). In 1903, Whitfield sold a 100-foot (30 m) strip of land that extended across the southern part of Oldham County to the Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Texas (later Rock Island) Railroad as a right-of-way. He then sold portions of land on the south side of the right-of-way to other settlers. A. M. Miller and Howard Trigg surveyed the town site that eventually became Vega in May 1903. The name Vega, which is Spanish for "meadow", was chosen because it reflected the vast prairie and surrounding countryside of the area. Soon after, Miller opened a store, and a post office, saloon, and a school that doubled as a Masonic Lodge were built in the community. In 1…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vega, 1903 to 1966

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903
    FoundingVega is established
  3. 1904Post officeThe Vega post office opens
  4. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Vega, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Vega, TX gazebo IMG 49062010Vega, TX gazebo IMG 4906Route 66 Roadside Attraction, Vega, TX IMG 49122010Route 66 Roadside Attraction, Vega, TX IMG 4912Restored Magnolia station, Vega, TX IMG 49072010Restored Magnolia station, Vega, TX IMG 4907Oldham County, TX, Courthouse IMG 49042010Oldham County, TX, Courthouse IMG 4904Oldham County, TX, 4-H emblem IMG 49112010Oldham County, TX, 4-H emblem IMG 4911Magnolia Station, Vega, TX IMG 49082010Magnolia Station, Vega, TX IMG 4908First Baptist Church, Vega, TX IMG 48972010First Baptist Church, Vega, TX IMG 4897Downtown Vega, TX IMG 49142010Downtown Vega, TX IMG 4914Abandoned Texaco2007Abandoned TexacoVega Texas Water Tower2005Vega Texas Water TowerVega Texas Football Stadium2005Vega Texas Football StadiumTXMap-doton-Vega2004TXMap-doton-Vega
On the map

Vega on the map, 1966 to 1985

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

Vega on the 1966 USGS mapVega on the 1985 USGS map1966Vega South 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 Vega.

People over time

Vega, census by census

02004006008001,00019401960198020002020Peak: 936

Between 515 and 936 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Vega

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

See all →
Cyd CharisseAmerican dancer and actress · b. 1922
Edgar MitchellAmerican astronaut · b. 1930
George SaundersAmerican writer · b. 1958
Rick HusbandAmerican astronaut · b. 1957
Carolyn JonesAmerican actress · b. 1930
Arden ChoAmerican actress, singer, and model · b. 1985

Questions about Vega’s history

What year was Vega founded?

In 1903, according to Wikidata. Vega’s post office opened in 1904, and the census of 1930 counted 519 people here.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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 (12), 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.