Arcadia’s post office opened in 1888, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #241 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Arcadia was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Its Register listing is the Queen Anne Cottage and Coach Barn. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1910.
The Arcadia post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Santa Anita (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 696 in 19102020 census: 56,681138 years
How historic is Arcadia?
C+
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Arcadia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Arcadia’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Arcadia is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #241 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Arcadia’s overall grade.
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 Arcadia’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (68% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. 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 Arcadia’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
For over 8,000 years, the site of Arcadia was part of the homeland of the Tongva people ("Gabrieleño" tribe), a Californian Native American tribe whose territory spanned the greater Los Angeles Basin, and the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys. Their fluid borders stretched between the Santa Susana Mountains, San Bernardino Mountains, and San Gabriel Mountains in the north; the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills in the west; the San Jacinto Mountains and Santa Ana Mountains in the east; and the coast and Catalina Island (Pimu) in the south. A Tongva settlement site within present-day Arcadia was known as Alyeupkigna (or Aluupkenga).
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Arcadia post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Arcadia rank for history?
Arcadia is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #241 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 Arcadia?
One place: the Queen Anne Cottage and Coach Barn (listed 1980).
How old are the homes in Arcadia?
4% of Arcadia’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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Date?
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