Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #724 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Calipatria was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1920.
The Calipatria post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1919.
More historic than 8% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calipatria is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #724 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold 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 Calipatria’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: 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1935Waiting for the semimonthly relief checks at Calipatr…
1935Waiting for the semimonthly relief checks at Calipatr…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Pea pickers near…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Pea pickers near…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Pea pickers near…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Pea pickers near…
1935Untitled photo, possibly related to: Pea pickers near…
1937Waiting for relief checks during Great depression
1937Waiting for relief checks. Calipatria, California
1937Waiting for relief checks. Calipatria, California
1937Waiting for relief checks. Calipatria, California
1937Waiting for relief checks. Calipatria, California
1937Waiting for relief checks. Calipatria, California
1937In Calipatria, California, where thousands of refugee…
1937Waiting for the relief checks at Calipatria, Californ…
1937Waiting for relief checks. Calipatria, California. Im…From Wikipedia’s history of Calipatria.
The Imperial Valley Farm Lands Association founded the town as Date City in 1914. The first post office at Calipatria opened in 1914. Calipatria incorporated in 1919.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Calipatria, cut from the printed page as they were published.
First National Bank of Calipatria. — The growth of this bank has been most remarkable. Under able management it was organized in 1915 with a capital stock of $25,000; surplus, $25,000. The bank occupies a good location in the town of Calipatria, in a stately building, and owns its new home. Every appliance and convenience known to modern banking for the purpose of safeguarding the funds and valuables of its patrons have been installed. The officers of the bank are : President, Wm. T. Dunn; vice-president, V. R. Sterling; cashier, M. Ferguson.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Again, there is a vast acreage of splendid farming land southwest of here which is now tapped by a branch line from Calipatria to Westmoreland, which will be later extended to a connection with the San Diego road. The rights of way have been secured and the work laid out to build another branch east and south some 23 miles, giving to that vast territory an outlet and bringing the business of both sections to Calipatria.
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.
In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - California - Imperial County - ED 13-49, …In the archiveWaiting for the semimonthly relief checks at Calipatria, Imperial Valley, California - NA…
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Calipatria.
1944Calipatria 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 Calipatria.
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.
1916Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Calipatria’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 785 and 7,705 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Calipatria’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Calipatria post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1919.
Calipatria is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #724 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.
2% of Calipatria’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1974.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (13), 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, 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.
