The story
Read it all →How Durham came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Durham.
Durham was built on the site of a former Maidu settlement known as Eskini (also, Erskins and Es-kin).
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
B−History
History · Durham
Durham’s post office opened in 1871, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #175 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Durham was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listings are the Patrick Ranch House and the W. W. Durham House. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1990.
1871first post office
2on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Durham began
When was Durham founded?
1871
The Durham post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Greenland (1863), Grainland (1867) and Nelson (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 4,784 in 19902020 census: 5,834155 years
How historic is Durham?
B−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Durham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Durham’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Durham is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #175 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Durham’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.5% of homes (±4.9) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register2 listings, 3.7 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 46%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 79%
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 Durham’s 3.7 sits above most of its state (85% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Durham’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Durham, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Durham are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19125 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1978. Watch Durham change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Durham’s post office has been open since 1871. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Greenland
Grainland
Durham
Nelson
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BlavoDaytonEskiniEsquonNelsonRamadaRoble
Gone or out of use
Butte Creek Hog Ranch Airportairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Durham
DaytonDurhamGlen Oaks Memorial ParkNelsonPatrick
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Durham’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Durham’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Durham on the map, 1912 to 1978
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Durham. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1912Durham sheet · 1:31,680U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Durham.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Durham, 1905–1913
Passages that mention Durham, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Durham, New Hampshire (Oyster River Plantation) with genealogical notes1913 · page 22Read the page →
Read the text
Moreover, the town records of Durham show that in the spring meeting after the incorporation of Lee the town elected three selectmen for Durham and also Nicholas Duda and Robert Thompson for Lee, and in 1767 the town meeting of Durham elected Miles Randall and Nicholas Duda as selectmen of Lee.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Durham, New Hampshire (Oyster River Plantation) with genealogical notes1913 · page 29Read the page →
Read the text
Durham has sent out colonies from time to time to found and develop other towns. New Durham was incorporated, 6 December 1 762 , as the result of a petition signed in 1 748 by ninety-six petitioners from Durham, many of whom settled in the new town. Many of the founders of Rochester went from Durham, and the earliest meetings of the proprietors were held in Durham.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Victoria history of the county of Durham1905 · page 156Read the page →
Read the text
Bank Top. This colliery is now closed down, and many of the houses are deserted, though a certain number are utilised as Aged Miners' Homes. The grange of Durham Priory lay at the top of the hill, and to the south are the race course, opened in 1895,** and Shincliffe station, on the Newcastle, Leamside and Ferryhill branch of the North Eastern Railway.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The Victoria history of the county of Durham1905 · page 285Read the page →
Read the text
Bridge towards Darlington passes through the west end of the township. The bridge wa» built on the site of an older one '•• in 1673, and h.is seven arches, of which two are within Durham. ■^ A village called Hurworth Place sprang up by the bridge about the time of the making of the railway in 1829.' From the bridge a road goes eastward through both the villages on to Dinsdale, with a branch south-east to Sockburn.
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
Durham, 1863 to 1912
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1863Post officeThe Greenland post office opens
- 1864Post officeThe Greenland post office closes
- 1867Post officeThe Grainland post office opens
- 1871Post officeThe Durham post office opens
- 1874
BuiltW. W. Durham House is built - 20th century
- 1902Post officeThe Grainland post office closes
- 1912
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Durham, decade by decade
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2014
2013Every building
Durham, building by building, 1914
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.
1914Sheet 1 of 2BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
2 historic places in Durham
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1972
Patrick Ranch House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Italianate1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Durham, census by census
Between 4,784 and 5,834 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Durham’s Wikipedia page.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Durham’s history
What year was Durham founded?
The Durham post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Durham rank for history?
Durham is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #175 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 Durham?
Two places: the Patrick Ranch House (listed 1972) and the W. W. Durham House (1992).
How old are the homes in Durham?
6% of Durham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1976.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (7), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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, 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.