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C−History
History · Acton

Acton’s post office opened in 1887

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #427 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Acton was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1990.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Chevy111 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Acton began

When was Acton founded?

1887

The Acton post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,471 in 19902020 census: 7,431139 years

How historic is Acton?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Acton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Acton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Acton is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #427 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Acton’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.7% of homes (±3.2) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 50%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Acton’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California 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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.2 points). 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 Acton’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 Acton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19006 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1995. Watch Acton change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Acton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Acton on the map, 1900 to 1995

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

Acton on the 1900 USGS mapActon on the 1934 USGS mapActon on the 1940 USGS mapActon on the 1959 USGS mapActon on the 1974 USGS mapActon on the 1995 USGS map1900Tujunga sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Acton.

The story

How Acton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Acton.

Read it all →

The town originally had served as a railroad camp from 1873 to 1876 when the Saugus-Mojave section of the Southern Pacific Railroad was under construction.

Acton was once considered for the State capital of California. California Governor Henry T. Gage (1899–1903) owned the Governor Mine, hence the name, and sought to relocate the capital to Acton. This effort ultimately failed and the capital was not moved from Sacramento. In the late 1880s, Acton started to become more of a ranching and farming community. In 1889 Acton's first hotel and its first saloon, the "49er" (formerly Sutter's Mill), was opened and is still in business today.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Acton, 1887 to 1987

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Acton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1955Born hereBill Sedgwick is born here
  6. 1962Born hereTom Taylor is born here
  7. 1987Born hereEileen April Boylan is born here
By decade

Acton, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Quartz Chalcedony2026Quartz ChalcedonyQuartz Chalcedony2026Quartz ChalcedonyActon Agua Dulce Library2024Acton Agua Dulce LibraryActon at dawn 20142014Acton at dawn 2014
People over time

Acton, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00020002020Peak: 7,596

Between 1,471 and 7,596 people in every census since 1990.

4 censuses, 1990–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Acton

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
E
Eileen April BoylanAmerican actress · b. 1987
B
Bill SedgwickNASCAR driver · b. 1955
T
Tom TaylorAmerican football player · b. 1962
S
Shannon DoepkingAmerican softball coach
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Acton’s post office has been open since 1887.

Hamlets and corners on the map
MissionParisStallion Meadow Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Acton SchoolschoolGovernor MineminePuritan MinemineRed Rover Minemine
1cemetery inside Acton
Acton Community

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Agua DulceIts storyC−PalmdaleIts storyC−

Questions about Acton’s history

What year was Acton founded?

The Acton post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Acton rank for history?

Acton is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #427 of 847 in California. 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 Acton?

5% of Acton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1986.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (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) 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.