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History · Windthorst

Windthorst’s post office opened in 1892

Most of Windthorst was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1962 on and the census since 1970.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Windthorst began

When was Windthorst founded?

1892

The Windthorst post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 377 in 19702020 census: 342134 years
Founding year: the first Windthorst post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Windthorst’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Windthorst, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Windthorst yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Windthorst is a town in Archer and Clay counties in Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 342 at the 2020 census. The town is named for Ludwig Windthorst, a Catholic statesman in Germany. Windthorst is the home of the St. Mary's Grotto, a Roman Catholic outdoor shrine, which was paid for with money sent home by 64 military service members from Windthorst who served in World War II. All of the 64 returned home. A new entrance to the shrine was constructed in 2009.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 409 to 342 (-16%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Windthorst, 1892 to 1962

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Windthorst post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1933Born hereHank Gremminger is born here
  5. 1962On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Windthorst, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Windthorst, Texas General Store 19212015Windthorst, Texas General Store 1921
On the map

Windthorst on the map, 1962 to 1985

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

Windthorst on the 1962 USGS mapWindthorst on the 1985 USGS map1962Windthorst 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 Windthorst.

People over time

Windthorst, census by census

0100200300400198020002020Peak: 440

Between 342 and 440 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Questions about Windthorst’s history

What year was Windthorst founded?

The Windthorst post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 (1), 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.