More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #646 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Earlimart was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1929 on, and the census since 1950.
The Earlimart post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Alila (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 2,162 in 19502020 census: 7,679119 years
How historic is Earlimart?
D
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Earlimart post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Earlimart’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Earlimart is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #646 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Earlimart’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 Earlimart’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 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 Earlimart’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the early 1890s, the Dalton Gang was accused and convicted of robbing a Southern Pacific Railroad train at Earlimart, when the community was known as Alila.
Community members changed its name to Earlimart in 1910, choosing that name because the variety of melons grown by local farmers ripened early, and thus were considered “early to market”—hence, “Earli-mart.” Tulare County's Earlimart branch library was established in October 1914 in the Alila School.
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.
The Earlimart post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Earlimart rank for history?
Earlimart is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #646 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 Earlimart?
4% of Earlimart’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (3), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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