Waxahachie’s post office opened in 1850, and 75 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #93 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Waxahachie was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. 75 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 306 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
The Waxahachie post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sterrett (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,354 in 18802020 census: 41,140176 years
How historic is Waxahachie?
B
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Waxahachie post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Waxahachie’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Waxahachie is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #93 of 642 in Texas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Waxahachie’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 Waxahachie’s 84.2 sits above most of its state (95% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 382 historic buildings outnumber those of 96% 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 (±1.5 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 Waxahachie’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Waxahachie was founded in August 1850 as the seat of the newly established Ellis County on a tract of land donated by early settler Emory W. Rogers, a native of Lawrence County, Alabama, who migrated to Texas in 1839. It was incorporated on April 28, 1871, and in 1875, the state legislature granted investors the right to operate a rail line from Waxahachie Tap Railroad to Garrett, Texas, which greatly increased the population of Waxahachie.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Waxahachie. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1961Waxahachie 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 Waxahachie.
Every building
Waxahachie, building by building, 1885–1914
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.
The Waxahachie post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Waxahachie rank for history?
Waxahachie is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #93 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 Waxahachie?
75 listings: 68 buildings, among them the Waxahachie Chautauqua Building (listed 1974, the first), and 7 historic districts with 306 contributing buildings. 382 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Waxahachie?
7% of Waxahachie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2004.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (75), 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), 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.
c. 1908
1913
