Danville’s post office opened in 1860, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #298 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Danville was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1917 on and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Danville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1982.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Danville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Danville is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #298 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Danville’s overall grade.
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 Danville’s 1.2 sits above most of its state (77% of California towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1982.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Danville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Often referred to as the "Heart of the San Ramon Valley", Danville was first populated by Native Americans who lived near creeks and camped on Mount Diablo in the summer. Later, it was part of Mission San José's grazing land as well as a Mexican land grant called Rancho San Ramon.
Initially a farming community, the Town of Danville switched from wheat to fruits and nuts after the Southern Pacific Railroad built a spur line through the area in 1891. It developed as a residential suburb in 1947 when the first sizable housing tracts were constructed and its population boomed in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Danville Post Office opened in 1860 with hotel owner Henry W. Harris as the first postmaster.
Passages that mention Danville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Contra Costa County, California, including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description1882 · page 227Read the page →
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1868. — On May 6, 1868, it was ordered by the Board of Supervisors that an election be held in Contra Costa county on June 20, 1868, for the purpose of submitting a proposition for the county to make a donation to the Martinez and Danville Railroad Company to aid in the construction of a railroad from Martinez to Danville, in the county of Contra Costa, in pursuance of an Act of the Legislature, entitled " An Act to authorize the county of Contra Costa to donate bonds to the Martinez and Danville
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History of Contra Costa County, California1926 · page 525Read the page →
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Danville church for fifty-three years. At the expiration of fifty years of service as clerk, he was honored by a meeting of the Presbytery of San Francisco, which met in Danville to celebrate the event. He has served as superintendent of the Sunday School for half a century, and is now (1926) in active service as superintendent and teacher of a class in the Sunday School at Danville. Mr. and Mrs. Young are cheerful and happy in their comfortable home, and at the ages of eighty-five and seventysix, respectively, are active in mind and body and enjoying life to its full.
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The history of Contra Costa County, California1917 · page 382Read the page →
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In the summer of 1891 the Southern Pacific Railroad reached the town. Soon after John Hartz surveyed and offered his addition to the town of Danville, the lots being soon sold, and from that time progress has been rapid, and the result is the achievements of the present time. The Oakland, Antioch & Eastern Railway made its advent in 1914, and by it the distance from San Francisco to Danville is reduced from fifty-six miles to thirty-two miles, and the schedule time is cut to half the former time required to make the trip.
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History of Contra Costa County, California1926 · page 160Read the page →
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There are two versions given regarding the naming of Danville. One is that it was named for Dan Inman, the man who built the first building. Another is that the honor was given "Aunt Sallie" Young, who named it Danville after Danville, Ky., her birthplace.
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
Danville, 1860 to 1999
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Danville post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1982.
How does Danville rank for history?
Danville is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #298 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.
What is on the National Register in Danville?
Three places: the Tao House (listed 1971), the Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site (1978) and the Danville Southern Pacific Railroad Depot (1994).
How old are the homes in Danville?
0.4% of Danville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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