The Campo post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Barrett (1915), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,955156 years
How historic is Campo?
C
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Campo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Campo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Campo is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #376 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 Campo’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 Campo’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 (±7.3 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 Campo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1868, Silas and Luman Gaskill opened the Gaskill Brothers' Stone Store; they were among the area's first residents. Seven years later in 1875, the store became the site of one of the deadliest Old West shootouts in California, with eight killed as the gang of bandits failed to raid the store.
Morena Dam was constructed between 1896 and 1912 to provide water to the San Diego area.
Campo was a station on the San Diego and Arizona Railway, completed in 1919.
The Campo post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Campo rank for history?
Campo is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #376 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 Campo?
8% of Campo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1985.
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, 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.
2011
2010
2010
2007
2007
2007
2006
