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History · Catheys Valley

Catheys Valley’s post office opened in 1879

Most of Catheys Valley was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1920 on.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Foo39 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Catheys Valley began, and where its name came from

When was Catheys Valley founded?

1879

The Catheys Valley post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Cathey's Valley (1879) and Cathay (1882), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 829147 years

How did Catheys Valley get its name?

Catheys Valley was named after Andrew Cathey, a native of North Carolina, who settled in the valley around 1850.

Founding year: the first Catheys Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Catheys Valley’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 Catheys Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Catheys Valley.On the map since 19204 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1981. Watch Catheys Valley change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Catheys Valley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Catheys Valley’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Cathey's Valley
1879–1881
Cathay
1882–1964
Cathey's Valley
1964–today
18701950today
1cemetery inside Catheys Valley
Catheys Valley

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Catheys Valley on the map, 1920 to 1981

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

Catheys Valley on the 1920 USGS mapCatheys Valley on the 1954 USGS mapCatheys Valley on the 1962 USGS mapCatheys Valley on the 1981 USGS map1920Indian Gulch sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story

How Catheys Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Catheys Valley.

Read it all →

Cathey's Valley was named after Andrew D. Cathey, born in 1804 in Buncombe, North Carolina. He married Mary Deaver in 1828. Andrew was an adventurous young man in his early life. He decided to leave North Carolina on an exploratory trip to California with the Rowland-Hammond-Wills families from Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. Their wagons loaded with household goods, they blazed a trail westward, settling in Benton, Arkansas.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Catheys Valley, 1879 to 1982

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Cathey's Valley post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Cathey's Valley post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Cathay post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1964Post officeThe Cathay post office closes
  8. 1964Post officeThe Cathey's Valley post office opens
  9. 1982Born hereLogan Mankins is born here
By decade

Catheys Valley, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Cathey's Valley park entrance2018Cathey's Valley park entranceCatheys Valley, California2017Catheys Valley, CaliforniaMariposite stone in Monument at2016Mariposite stone in Monument atCatheys Valley Monument Made of Mariposite Rock2016Catheys Valley Monument Made of Mariposite Rock

Questions about Catheys Valley’s history

What year was Catheys Valley founded?

The Catheys Valley post office opened in 1879, 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 →
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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 (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.