More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #414 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Watauga was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1970.
Founding year: the first Watauga post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Watauga’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Watauga is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #414 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Watauga’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 Watauga’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. 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 Watauga’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first settlers came to Tarrant County in 1843. The Texas and Pacific Railway came through present-day Watauga in 1881, which spurred a settlement of large farms and ranches. The settlement took its name from the pre-Revolutionary War Watauga Association settlement that was located in the northeastern section of East Tennessee, in areas surrounding the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, near present-day Elizabethton, Tennessee.
Watauga received a railroad station and a post office in 1883. The population was 65 in the mid-1930s and 1940s, when the railroad station had closed. The population then grew due to defense plants to over 1000 in the 1960s. The population continued to grow to 7,050 in 1976, and 20,000 in 1990.
The Watauga post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Watauga rank for history?
Watauga is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #414 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 Watauga?
0.1% of Watauga’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1984.
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, 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.
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