More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #538 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Clovis was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1920.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1895.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Clovis’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clovis is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #538 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clovis’ overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Clovis ranks #353 on History.
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 Clovis’ 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.
Newer cities are common at Clovis’ size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Clovis’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The city of Clovis began as a freight stop along the San Joaquin Valley Railroad. Organized on January 15, 1890, by Fresno businessmen Thomas E. Hughes, Fulton Berry, Gilbert R. Osmun, H.D. Colson, John D. Gray, and William M. Williams, in partnership with Michigan railroad speculator Marcus Pollasky, the SJVRR began construction in Fresno on July 4, 1891, and reached the farmlands of Clovis M. Cole and George Owen by October of that year. The railroad purchased right-of-way from both farmers, half from each – the east side from Cole and the west side from Owen – and ran tracks up the borderline between the two properties. The railroad agreed to establish a station on the west side of the tracks and to call it "Clovis." The Clovis station, which was named after Clovis Cole, was positioned on the Owen side of the track.
Passages that mention Clovis, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1919 · page 1663Read the page →
Read the text
that continued until 1894 when he undertook to herd lumber in the flume for the Fresno Flume and Irrigation Company. He was with the flume company, and later in the mill, where he was a shipping clerk in the box department at Clovis, for ten years ; and having saved money, he bought six lots and owned three houses in Clovis, some of which he later sold at a profit. He then bought, for $2,640, a quarter section of land, and afterward traded it for $3,000 cash and twenty acres half a mile west of Clovis. Still later he sold the twenty acres, and about the same time quit the mill.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1919 · page 2073Read the page →
Read the text
Robert W. received a good education in the public schools of Texas. In 1886 he came to Fresno and immediately went to work aiding his father at grain-ranching, at which he was steadily employed until twenty-two vears of age, when he acquired a farming outfit and leased land east of Clovis and raised grain until the land was cut up into smaller tracts and sold. He then purchased forty acres one mile east of Clovis which he devoted to vineyard, orchard and alfalfa, until November, 1901. He had always had a desire to own a ranch and raise cattle, so in that year he purchased a ranch of 800
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.
Timeline
Clovis, 1890 to 2005
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
In 1890, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Clovis’ post office opened in 1895, and the census of 1920 counted 1,157 people here.
How does Clovis rank for history?
Clovis is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #538 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 Clovis?
1% of Clovis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
1917
2026
2026
