The Alpaugh post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Tule (1859), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 871120 years
Founding year: the first Alpaugh post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Alpaugh’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Alpaugh's location (once also called Hog Island, Root Island, and Atwell's Island) was once either on an island or a narrow peninsula near the south end of the huge and rich Tulare Lake. A.J. Atwell was a Visalia attorney (and newspaper owner) who raised hogs on the island. The lake at different times supported a very large Native American population, a commercial fishery, herds of tule elk, countless game birds, and much more. The island was a regular port of call for the lake's commercial ferry service. The last time the lake was brim full and overflowed into the San Joaquin River to the sea was 1878. Water diversions of its source waters have since caused the lake to shrink into the tiny remnant of today. Local efforts have been undertaken to increase the lake's size for water storage and wildlife.
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), 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.
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