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A−History
History · Angels

Angels dates to 1848, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 83% of U.S. towns · #24 of 847 in California. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1945 on, and the census since 1880.

1848founded
5on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Angels’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Angels began

When was Angels founded?

1848

Angels dates its founding to 1848 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 330 in 18802020 census: 3,667178 years

How historic is Angels?

A−

More historic than 83% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1853.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Angels’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Angels is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #24 of 847 in California. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Angels’ overall grade.
Founding era1848, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194012.8% of homes (±6.7) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register5 listings, 7 historic buildings, 18.8 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 83%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 97%

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 Angels’ 18.8 sits above most of its state (95% of California towns have fewer) while its 7 historic buildings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1848.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Angels’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsEstablished in 1848: 178 years of Angels.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Angels’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Sacr…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Angels, 1848 to 1975

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1848
    FoundingAngels is established
  3. 1851BuiltAngels Hotel is built
  4. 1853Post officeThe Angels Camp post office opens
  5. 1858BuiltAltaville Grammar School is built
  6. 1860BuiltChoy, Sam, Brick Store is built
  7. 1887Born hereIone Bright is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1904Post officeThe Altaville post office opens
  10. 1917Born hereMike McCormick is born here
  11. 1920Born hereCatfish Metkovich is born here
  12. 1942Born hereMichael D. Haskins is born here
  13. 1945On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  14. 1975Post officeThe Altaville post office closes
On the National Register

5 historic places in Angels

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Angels Hotel
Angels Hotel, built 1851Altaville Grammar School, built 1858Utica MansionChoy, Sam, Brick Store, built 1860Calaveras County Bank
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival2
Victorian1
Federal1
Angels HotelVictorian · Built 1851
Altaville Grammar SchoolBuilt 1858
Utica MansionFederal
Choy, Sam, Brick StoreClassical Revival · Built 1860
Calaveras County BankClassical Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Angels came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Angels.

Read it all →

In May 1848, Henry Pinkney Angell, a native of Rhode Island, is said to have left Monterey, California with 92 men in search of gold. By July, they were gold mining on Weber Creek before moving on to a small unnamed tributary of the Stanislaus River. It was decided to set up camp where the tributary met Dry Creek, since the area seemed promising. In this new camp, Angell set up a store on the banks of the creek to trade essential items for gold. By the spring of 1849, the camp population had grown to 300 miners.

The first post office was established in 1851 (and called Carson's Creek). It was renamed along with the town in 1853. In 1853, Angel opened Magee and Angel's Hotel, in a partnership with Cave City.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Angels, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Sacramento Chamber of Commerce GENERAL VIEW - Utica Mine, Angels Camp, Calaveras Cou…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Sacramento Chamber…
Today8 recent
Aerial view of New Melones Lake and Angels Camp, December 20232023Aerial view of New Melones Lake and Angels Camp, Dece…Firefighter thank you signs, Calaveras County Visitor Information Center, 20152015Firefighter thank you signs, Calaveras County Visitor…Jumping frog art at Joe Carley Memorial Firehouse in Angels Camp, California's most famous Gold Rush town2012Jumping frog art at Joe Carley Memorial Firehouse in …Phil's Alembic2010Phil's AlembicPhil Lesh's Alembicized Guild Starfire2010Phil Lesh's Alembicized Guild StarfireAngels Camp, CA 95222, USA2010Angels Camp, CA 95222, USALightner Mine, Angels Camp, California, USA2006Lightner Mine, Angels Camp, California, USAFowler Peak, Calaveras County2006Fowler Peak, Calaveras County
On the map

Angels on the map, 1945 to 1962

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

Angels on the 1945 USGS mapAngels on the 1962 USGS map1945San Andreas 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 Angels.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Historic American Buildings Survey Sacramento Chamber of Commerce GENERAL VIEW - Utica Mine, Angels Camp, Calaveras Cou…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Sacramento Chamber of Commerce GENERAL VIEW - Utica Mine, Angels Camp, Calaveras Cou…

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Angels’ page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Angels, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,836

Between 330 and 3,836 people in every census since 1880.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Angels

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

See all →
Mike McCormickAmerican baseball player · b. 1917
Catfish MetkovichAmerican baseball player · b. 1920
Ione BrightAmerican theatre actress · b. 1887
Michael D. HaskinsAmerican Navy admiral · b. 1942
M
Michael FessierAmerican screenwriter · b. 1905
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Altaville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Angels Camp
1853–today
Altaville
1904–1975
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AltavilleAngels Camp
Gone or out of use
Altaville MinemineAngels Deep MinemineAngels MinemineBruner MinemineBullion MinemineClifton Ranch MinemineCrystal MinemineDead Horse MinemineDemarest MinemineDolling MinemineEtna King MinemineFoster MinemineGhost MinemineGold Cliff MinemineGreat Western MinemineGreenstone MinemineHale MinemineHicks Prospectmine
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Angels
Altaville CatholicAltaville ProtestantAltaville SerbianLode

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

Questions about Angels’ history

What year was Angels founded?

In 1848, according to Wikidata. Angels’ post office opened in 1853, and the census of 1880 counted 330 people here.

How does Angels rank for history?

Angels is more historic than 83% of U.S. towns, #24 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.

What is on the National Register in Angels?

5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Angels Hotel (listed 1972, the first). 7 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Angels?

13% of Angels’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1987.

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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.