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C−History
History · Venus

Venus’ post office opened in 1888

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #309 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Venus was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2014. Below: maps from 1961 on and the census since 1910.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Venus began

When was Venus founded?

1888

The Venus post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1903. Another post office, Gossip (1888), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 495 in 19102020 census: 4,361138 years

How historic is Venus?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Venus post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1903.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Venus’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Venus is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #309 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Venus’ overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.3% of homes (±3.1) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 52%

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 Venus’ 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 range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1903.

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 Venus’ 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 Venus are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1920 and 1940, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Venus’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Venus’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
People over time

Venus, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,500192019401960198020002020842 in 1920Low: 321

Lost half of its people between 1920 and 1940, then grew more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Venus came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Venus.

Read it all →

The town was originally named "Gossip" until its development in the late 1880s. J.C. Smythe purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of abandoned cornfields in the northeastern corner of Johnson County and began to plan a townsite. He named his new town "Venus" after the daughter of a local doctor. By 1888, the new town had a post office and a population around 10 residents. Being at the junction of two major railroads, Venus prospered and for a time was one of the fastest-growing communities in Johnson County. By the 1920s, Venus had its own schools (including a small college), several businesses, a weekly newspaper (the Venus Express), and a population that exceeded 800.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Venus, 1888 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1888Post officeThe Gossip post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Gossip post office closes
  4. 1888Post officeThe Venus post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1909Born hereJudith Barrett is born here
  7. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 21st century
  9. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 4,361
By decade

Venus, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Michelle Cannon owns and runs the Cannon Quarter Horse Ranch near2014Michelle Cannon owns and runs the Cannon Quarter Hors…Michelle Cannon owns and runs the Cannon Quarter Horse Ranch near2014Michelle Cannon owns and runs the Cannon Quarter Hors…Michelle Cannon owns and runs the Cannon Quarter Horse Ranch near2014Michelle Cannon owns and runs the Cannon Quarter Hors…2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookVenus downtown park2007Venus downtown parkVenus Auto Parts2007Venus Auto Parts
On the map

Venus on the map, 1961 to 1978

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

Venus on the 1961 USGS mapVenus on the 1978 USGS map1961Venus 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 Venus.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Venus’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Gossip, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gossip
1888–1888
Venus
1888–today
18801950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

AlvaradoIts storyC−

Questions about Venus’ history

What year was Venus founded?

The Venus post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1903.

How does Venus rank for history?

Venus is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #309 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.

How old are the homes in Venus?

4% of Venus’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2014.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.