Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cantua Creek

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Cantua Creek

Cantua Creek’s post office opened in 1941

Most of Cantua Creek was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 2000.

1941first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Cantua Creek began

When was Cantua Creek founded?

1941

The Cantua Creek post office opened in 1941, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 655 in 20002020 census: 50085 years
Founding year: the first Cantua Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Cantua Creek’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Cantua Creek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cantua Creek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cantua Creek’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Cantua Creek came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cantua Creek.

Read it all →

The community of Cantua Creek is located near Cantua Creek, a tributary of the Fresno Slough that flows down from the Coast Range to the west toward the Fresno Slough. That creek originally, Arroyo de Cantua, was a stopping place on the El Camino Viejo. The hideout of Joaquin Murrieta was located in the vicinity of this creek in the mountains to the west of this community.

The Cantua post office operated in 1888, and from 1890 to 1892. The Cantua Creek post office opened in 1941.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Cantua Creek, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Cantua Creek, California2021Cantua Creek, CaliforniaCantua Creek Post Office2021Cantua Creek Post Office
On the map

Cantua Creek on the map, 1956 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cantua Creek. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Cantua Creek on the 1956 USGS mapCantua Creek on the 1971 USGS map1956Cantua Creek sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Cantua Creek.

People over time

Cantua Creek, census by census

010020030040050060070020002020Peak: 655

Between 466 and 655 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Cantua Creek’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Cantua Creek

Nobody well known was born in Cantua Creek itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
William SaroyanArmenian-American novelist, playwright, and sho… · b. 1908
Sam PeckinpahAmerican film director · b. 1925
Mick WingertAmerican voice actor · b. 1974
Kevin FederlineAmerican rapper and entertainer · b. 1978
Mike ConnorsAmerican actor · b. 1925
Barbara MorganAstronaut · b. 1951

Questions about Cantua Creek’s history

What year was Cantua Creek founded?

The Cantua Creek post office opened in 1941, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.