El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) was first counted by the census in 1890, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #190 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1919 on and the census since 1890.
El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) first appears in the census in 1890. Another post office, Hot Springs (1867), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 827 in 18902020 census: 31,490136 years
How historic is El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)?
C+
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
What drives El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #190 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 El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)’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 El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)’s 1.6 sits above most of its state (79% of California towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±1.4 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: the first census (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 Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Another post office, Hot Springs, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hot Springs
1867–1870
Paso Robles
1870–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Capital HillOak ParkPaso Robles
Gone or out of use
Estrella Army Air FieldmilitaryPaso Robles Union High Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) on the map, 1919 to 1961
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles). Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1919Paso Robles sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles).
The story
How El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles).
Reconstructions of the area's Indigenous linguistic geography have differed. In a study prepared for Caltrans, anthropologists Randall Milliken and John R. Johnson concluded that Northern Chumash speakers inhabited the Paso Robles area at Spanish contact. Using mission registers, early accounts, and later interviews with Native consultants, they placed the Chumash–Salinan linguistic boundary south of Mission San Miguel, near San Marcos Creek. Their reconstruction identifies several village communities in the Paso Robles region, although some locations remain uncertain.
Questions about El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)’s history
What year was El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) founded?
The El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) rank for history?
El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #190 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 Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)?
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Brewster-Dutra House (listed 1982, the first).
How old are the homes in El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)?
4% of El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 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), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
2010
