More historic than 28% of U.S. towns · #356 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Armona was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: maps from 1926 on and the census since 1950.
Founding year: the first Armona post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Armona’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Armona is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #356 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Armona’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 Armona’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 range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 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 Armona’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The name "Armona" was applied to a railroad station in the 1880s. It was subsequently transferred to the present location on the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1891. Reportedly, the name was coined by transposing the first two letters of the name "Ramona".
The first school in the Armona vicinity was the Giddings School built in 1880. The Giddings School District was renamed Armona in 1907. A new brick school house was constructed in the early 1920s. As that structure did not comply with California's earthquake standards (the Field Act), it was replaced in 1953 with what is now the Armona Elementary School.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Armona. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1926Hanford sheet · 1:31,680
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Armona.
People over time
Armona, census by census
Grew from 1,274 people in 1950 to 4,274 in 2020, 3 times over.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Armona’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Armona’s history
What year was Armona founded?
The Armona post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Armona rank for history?
Armona is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns, #356 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 Armona?
9% of Armona’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (7), 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.
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