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History · Loraine

Loraine’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Loraine. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
2recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Loraine is a town in Mitchell County, Texas, United States. The population was 504 at the 2020 United States Census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 602 to 504 (-16%). Half of its homes were built before 1959.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Loraine yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Loraine’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Loraine

See all 4 →
JSJ. D. SheffieldFilm, TV & StageEMEldon Brooks MahonPolitics & LawGSGlenn E. SmileyFaithERElmira RossNotable
By decade

Loraine, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
Today2 photos
West TexasCommonsWest Texas2010TXMap-doton-LoraineCommonsTXMap-doton-Loraine2004
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Loraine is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Loraine has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Scott-Majors House in Colorado City, 9 miles away.

Loraine and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Loraine. Tap a dot.
Scott-Majors HouseSweetwater Commercial Historic DistrictFirst National Bank BuildingR. A. Ragland BuildingI.M. and Margaret Newman House

Closest to Loraine

Scott-Majors HouseColorado City · Building9miSweetwater Commercial Historic DistrictSweetwater · District18miFirst National Bank BuildingSweetwater · Building18.2miR. A. Ragland BuildingSweetwater · Building18.2miI.M. and Margaret Newman HouseSweetwater · Tudor Revival18.6mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Scott-Majors House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Loraine?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Loraine’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Colorado City📜 Roscoe📜 Westbrook📜 Sweetwater

From Wikimedia Commons (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

We left the porch light on

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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