Berkeley dates to 1866, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #13 of 847 in California. What drives it
63 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and four historic districts with 34 buildings between them. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1851.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Berkeley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Berkeley is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #13 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Berkeley’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Berkeley ranks #85 on History.
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 Berkeley’s 8.1 sits above most of its state (90% of California towns have fewer) while its 97 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1866.
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 Berkeley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Berkeley’s post office has been open since 1872. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Contra Costa
1851–1855
Berkeley
1872–today
West Berkeley
1875–1900
Lorin
1882–1900
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
ClaremontCragmontLa Loma ParkNormandy VillageRochedale VillageSouth BerkeleyThousand OaksWest BerkeleyWestbrae
Gone or out of use
Adeline Street StationlocaleAlcatraz Avenue StationlocaleAnna Head SchoolschoolAshby StationlocaleBerryman StationlocaleCarleton StationlocaleChurch of the CrosschurchCorbin StationlocaleDelaware Street StationlocaleDwight Way StationlocaleGrowing Light Montessori SchoolschoolHillside SchoolschoolNorth HallbuildingPosen StationlocalePotter StationlocaleRandolph SchoolschoolTilden Primary SchoolschoolTillman Stationlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The site of today's City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochenyo/Huchiun Ohlone people when the first Europeans arrived. Evidence of their existence in the area include pits in rock formations, which they used to grind acorns, wildflower seeds, grass seeds, and many different foods, including squirrel fat, and a shellmound, now mostly leveled and covered up, along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the mouth of Strawberry Creek. Human remains and skeletons from Native American burials have been unearthed in West Berkeley and on campus alongside Strawberry Creek. Other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the downtown area during remodeling of a commercial building, near the upper course of the creek.
Passages that mention Berkeley, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A description of the town of Berkeley1881 · page 22Read the page →
Read the text
The public schools of Berkeley occupy handsome buildings, and are supplied with competent instructors. The Kellogg School at East Berkeley stands near Strawberry Creek, and almost in the shadow of the old oaks of the University. The Principal is A. L. Fuller. His lady assistants are Sarah T.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Berkeley, 1851 to 1972
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Berkeley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1895San Francisco 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 Berkeley.
Every building
Berkeley, building by building, 1894–1911
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
In 1866, according to Wikidata. Berkeley’s post office opened in 1851, and the census of 1890 counted 5,101 people here.
How does Berkeley rank for history?
Berkeley is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Berkeley?
63 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 53 buildings, among them the Room 307, Gilman Hall, University of California (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), 4 historic districts with 34 contributing buildings, 3 sites, and 3 structures. 97 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Berkeley?
46% of Berkeley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1944.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (63), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
1890
1890
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