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History · Chualar

Chualar’s post office opened in 1871

Most of Chualar was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 2000.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chualar’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Chualar began

When was Chualar founded?

1871

The Chualar post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,444 in 20002020 census: 1,185155 years
Founding year: the first Chualar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chualar’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19104 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1984. Watch Chualar change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chualar’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewSalinas River Bridge, Spanning Salinas …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Chualar on the map, 1910 to 1984

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

Chualar on the 1910 USGS mapChualar on the 1947 USGS mapChualar on the 1968 USGS mapChualar on the 1984 USGS map1910Salinas sheet · 1:31,680

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

The story

How Chualar came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chualar.

Read it all →

The Chualar post office opened in 1871, closed in 1873, and re-opened in 1874.

At a railroad crossing about one mile south of town, a bus carrying Mexican migrant workers collided with a train in September 1963, killing 32 passengers and injuring 25. It was the most serious road accident in U.S. history, and helped spur the abolition of the bracero guest worker program. The portion of U.S. Route 101 where the accident occurred was named the "Bracero Memorial Highway" on the 50th anniversary of the accident in 2013. At that time two survivors of the crash were still alive.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Chualar in 1881

Passages that mention Chualar, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Chualar is a small place on the railroad in a region bordering on the dry portion of the great valley; yet it bids fair to become a place of business in time. The lands surrounding it do look admirable, only they need more rain than usually had.
History of Monterey County, California1881 · page 170Read the page →
Read the text

Chualar is a small place on the railroad in a region bordering on the dry portion of the great valley; yet it bids fair to become a place of business in time. The lands surrounding it do look admirable, only they need more rain than usually had.

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.

By decade

Chualar, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Salinas River Bridge, Spanning Salinas River on Chualar River RoadDate?Salinas River Bridge, Spanning Salinas River on Chual…
Today2 recent
1963 Chualar Bracero Crash Site20211963 Chualar Bracero Crash SiteGabilan Range2014Gabilan Range
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Salinas River Bridge, Spanning Salinas River on Chualar River Road
Retake this viewSalinas River Bridge, Spanning Salinas River on Chualar River Road

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Chualar’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Chualar, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60020002020Peak: 1,444

Between 1,185 and 1,444 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Chualar

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

See all →
John SteinbeckAmerican writer · b. 1902
Vanessa HudgensAmerican actress and singer · b. 1988
Leon PanettaAmerican politician, Secretary of Defense 2011–… · b. 1938
Jesse MetcalfeAmerican actor · b. 1978
Jeremy SumpterAmerican actor · b. 1989
Joel CourtneyAmerican actor · b. 1996

Questions about Chualar’s history

What year was Chualar founded?

The Chualar post office opened in 1871, 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), the Library of Congress (1), 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 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.