Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #477 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Covina was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1930.
Covina dates its founding to 1882 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1930.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Covina is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #477 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Covina’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Covina’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Covina. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Covina.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Covina.
Present-day Covina was originally within the homelands of the indigenous Tongva people for 5,000 to 8,000 years. In the 19th century it became part of Rancho La Puente: an 1842 Mexican land grant in Alta California.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Covina, cut from the printed page as they were published.
upon his purchase and engaging in hay and grain raising, farming his own and about 1,500 acres of rented lands. In 1885 he laid out the town of Covina, and was one of the most active men of his section in inducing the settlement of that fine section of the county. He was one of the prime movers in incorporating the Azusa AVater Development and Irrigation Company,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in mining enterprises. In 1883 he returned East, remaining until the next year, when he again came to California. This time he located near Covina and entered into horticultural pursuits upon a twenty-acre tract of land located in Covina school district, about one-fourth of a mile south of the San Bernardino road, and a half mile east of Covina. He has also under
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archive329. B. Ranch, Covina Cal, 1913 (orig 1898)
Born hereJean Stafford is born here
Born hereJason David Frank is born here
In the archiveRaleigh Waller, cattle rancher, welcoming rain fall during drought in Covina, Calif., 197…
Born hereJeremy Miller is born here
Born hereMichael Young is born here2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
1899Sheet 2 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Covina’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 2,774 people in 1930 to 51,268 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Covina’s Wikipedia page.
Covina’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Gladstone, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1882, according to Wikidata. Covina’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1930 counted 2,774 people here.
Covina is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #477 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.
3% of Covina’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1965.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (4), 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.
1976
2012