Weatherford’s post office opened in 1856, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #117 of 642 in Texas. What drives it
Most of Weatherford was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 87 buildings between them. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
From Weatherford’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Weatherford began
When was Weatherford founded?
1856
The Weatherford post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Parker (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 2,046 in 18802020 census: 30,854170 years
How historic is Weatherford?
B−
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Weatherford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Weatherford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Weatherford is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Weatherford’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 Weatherford’s 24.6 sits above most of its state (91% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 88 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% 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 (±1.1 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 Weatherford’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1854, Methodist minister Pleasant Tackett led 15 pioneer families into a land they called "Goshen," which would later become part of Parker County, itself to be created the following year by the efforts of State Representative Isaac Parker and State Senator Thomas Jefferson Weatherford in the Texas State Legislature. Evidence of a prior, failed attempt to colonize the region can be found in the abandoned cabin from 1852-53 located 6 miles (10 km) south of modern Weatherford on the J.H. Voorhies farm. In 1856
The railroad arrived in June 1880. The Santa Fe Depot (which houses the Weatherford Chamber of Commerce) was built in 1908 under Jim Crow laws, with waiting rooms segregated and separated by the ticket office.
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.
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 Weatherford post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Weatherford rank for history?
Weatherford is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #117 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 Weatherford?
4 listings: 1 building, among them the Parker County Courthouse (listed 1971, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Weatherford Downtown Historic District, the Chandor Gardens and the Byron Farmstead, with 87 contributing buildings. 88 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Weatherford?
5% of Weatherford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
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