Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Biola was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 2000.
Biola dates its founding to 1912 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 2000.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Biola is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Biola’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.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Biola’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Biola. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Biola.
From Wikipedia’s history of Biola.
Biola was founded by William Kerchoff in 1912. The name was an acronym of the "Bible Institute of Los Angeles". A post office operated in Biola from 1912 to 1918, and from 1920 to the present.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Biola, cut from the printed page as they were published.
During 1914, Mr. Rhodes took a trip back east, and when he returned, he secured employment at Reedley, Cal. In February, 1917, he went to the B. M. Hopper ranch near Biola, where after being employed only two months, his services were so satisfactory that he was made superintendent of the place, which consisted of a vineyard of 160 acres, mostly in Muscat grapes, although there are a few Thompson seedless. In January, 1919, he resigned his position, having bought a ten-acre fig orchard in the Barstow Colony and moved onto it. However, on May 15, 1919, he again accepted a position with
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 1,037 and 1,623 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Biola’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Biola itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
In 1912, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Biola’s post office opened in 1915, and the census of 2000 counted 1,037 people here.
Biola is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. 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.
7% of Biola’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, 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 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.
