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History · Crows Landing

Crows Landing dates to 1830, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1910 on and old-book passages.

1830founded
0on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Crows Landing began

When was Crows Landing founded?

1830

Crows Landing dates its founding to 1830 (Wikipedia’s history). Its post office opened in 1870.

2020 census: 322196 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓

What stands out about Crows Landing’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 Crows Landing are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19165 editions of the USGS map, 1916 to 1980. Watch Crows Landing change.Old housesHalf of Crows Landing’s homes were built before 1953.Deep rootsEstablished in 1830: 196 years of Crows Landing.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Crows Landing’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Crows Landing on the map, 1916 to 1980

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

Crows Landing on the 1916 USGS mapCrows Landing on the 1941 USGS mapCrows Landing on the 1952 USGS mapCrows Landing on the 1971 USGS mapCrows Landing on the 1980 USGS map1916Crows Landing 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 Crows Landing.

The story

How Crows Landing came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Crows Landing.

Read it all →

Crows Landing was founded on the San Joaquin River, as a river landing or crossing, by John Crow, who was born in Missouri in 1830 and died in California in 1917; John Crow's father, Walter Crow, had left Missouri to mine gold in California in 1849. John Crow emigrated from Missouri to California in a covered wagon with his wife Margaret Malinda Bodenhamer, born in 1837 in Quincy, Illinois and who died in California in 1918. The Crows had 12 children, but not all survived to adulthood.

In 1887, Crows Landing was relocated to its present site, four miles west of its original location, to be served by the Southern Pacific Railroad.

Members of the Crow family still live at Crows Landing and operate a walnut farm.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Crows Landing in 1921

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

In 1900 a company of Stanislaus citizens proposed to run a railroad from Oakdale through Modesto to Crows Landing or Newman, then on to tidewater at Antioch, a distance of 100 miles. They incorporated May 21, 1900, under the name of the Modesto & Yosemite Valley Railroad Company. Their capital stoc…
History of Stanislaus County California1921 · page 162Read the page →
Read the text

In 1900 a company of Stanislaus citizens proposed to run a railroad from Oakdale through Modesto to Crows Landing or Newman, then on to tidewater at Antioch, a distance of 100 miles. They incorporated May 21, 1900, under the name of the Modesto & Yosemite Valley Railroad Company. Their capital stock was $100,000, all of which was subscribed by the directors, Jacob Haslacher, Louis Kahn, Charles T.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
When he finally sold out, in 1915, he came to Crows Landing, in Stanislaus County, and bought forty-eight acres of alfalfa east of Crows Landing; and on this ranch he had a dairy with forty head of cows. In 1918, he sold out his Crows Landing ranch and came to Patterson, where he bought eighty-thre…
History of Stanislaus County California1921 · page 1483Read the page →
Read the text

When he finally sold out, in 1915, he came to Crows Landing, in Stanislaus County, and bought forty-eight acres of alfalfa east of Crows Landing; and on this ranch he had a dairy with forty head of cows. In 1918, he sold out his Crows Landing ranch and came to Patterson, where he bought eighty-three acres on the corner of Sycamore and Pomegranate Avenue; the pasturage is of alfalfa, and he has sixty-three head of the finest milch stock obtainable.

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

Crows Landing, 1830 to 1916

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830
    FoundingCrows Landing is established
  3. 1870Post officeThe Crows Landing post office opens
  4. 1899Born hereD. C. Williams is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Crows Landing, decade by decade

Today2 recent
First National Bank Building2017First National Bank BuildingCrows Landing, Stanislaus County, CA2017Crows Landing, Stanislaus County, CA
Every building

Crows Landing, building by building, 1910

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 sheet.

Crows Landing fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Questions about Crows Landing’s history

What year was Crows Landing founded?

In 1830, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Crows Landing’s post office opened in 1870.

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 (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.