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C−History
History · El Granada

El Granada’s post office opened in 1909, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #403 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of El Granada was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the Princeton Hotel. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1970.

1909first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How El Granada began

When was El Granada founded?

1909

The El Granada post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,473 in 19702020 census: 5,481117 years

How historic is El Granada?

C−

More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first El Granada post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives El Granada’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, El Granada is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #403 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of El Granada’s overall grade.
Founding era1909, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19402.8% of homes (±2.9) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 1.9 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 23%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 52%

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 El Granada’s 1.9 sits above most of its state (80% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±2.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 El Granada’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 El Granada are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start El Granada’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how El Granada’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How El Granada came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of El Granada.

Read it all →

El Granada's unusual concentric-circular street layout was designed by the influential architect and city planner Daniel Burnham. Burnham's other works included overseeing the design for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and designing the 1902 Flatiron Building in New York City. Burnham's plan was commissioned by the Ocean Shore Railroad, which developed El Granada as a seaside resort for visitors who would use the railroad to travel between San Francisco and El Granada. The city was originally named "Granada" after the city in Spain but the Post Office mistakenly recorded the name as "El Granada" in 1909. Financial difficulties and the advent of the automobile caused the railroad to abandon the plan, and El Granada subsequently became a residential community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

El Granada, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Half Moon Bay airport and2022Half Moon Bay airport andEl Granada and Pilar Pont Harbor2022El Granada and Pilar Pont HarborHalf Moon Bay2014Half Moon BayPillar Point Harbor aerial view2007Pillar Point Harbor aerial viewEl Granada2007El Granada
On the map

El Granada on the map, 1949 to 1993

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

El Granada on the 1949 USGS mapEl Granada on the 1956 USGS mapEl Granada on the 1968 USGS mapEl Granada on the 1993 USGS map1949Montara Mountain sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of El Granada.

On the National Register

1 historic place in El Granada

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Princeton Hotel
Princeton Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Craftsman1
Princeton HotelVernacular

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

El Granada, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,000198020002020Peak: 5,724

Between 1,473 and 5,724 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on El Granada’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners

El Granada’s post office has been open since 1909.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Princeton

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Moss Beach1 historic placeCHalf Moon Bay4 historic placesB−

Questions about El Granada’s history

What year was El Granada founded?

The El Granada post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does El Granada rank for history?

El Granada is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #403 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 El Granada?

One place: the Princeton Hotel (listed 1979).

How old are the homes in El Granada?

3% of El Granada’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1981.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.