The story
Read it all →How Buena Vista came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Buena Vista.
A post office operated at Buena Vista from 1866 to 1878. It was briefly known as The Corners.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Buena Vista
Buena Vista’s post office opened in 1866
Most of Buena Vista was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: maps from 1941 on.
1866first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Buena Vista began
When was Buena Vista founded?
1866
The Buena Vista post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 542160 years
Founding year: the first Buena Vista post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Buena Vista’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Buena Vista’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Buena Vista’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Buena Vista, 1866 to 1941
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1866Post officeThe Buena Vista post office opens
- 1878Post officeThe Buena Vista post office closes
- 20th century
- 1941
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Buena Vista on the map, 1941 to 1962
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Buena Vista. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1941Sutter Creek sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Buena Vista.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Buena Vista
Nobody well known was born in Buena Vista itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Buena Vista had its own post office from 1866 to 1878.
Buena Vista
18601940today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Buena Vista’s history
What year was Buena Vista founded?
The Buena Vista post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.