The story
Read it all →How Empire came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Empire.
In 1854, the town of Empire City was founded on the south bank of the
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Empire
Empire’s post office opened in 1851
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #437 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Empire was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1916 on and the census since 2000.
1851first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Empire began
When was Empire founded?
1851
The Empire post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 3,903 in 20002020 census: 4,202175 years
How historic is Empire?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Empire post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Empire’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Empire is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #437 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Empire’s overall grade.
Founding era1851, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.3% of homes (±5.1) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 48%
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 Empire’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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.1 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 Empire’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Empire’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Empire’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
Empire on the map, 1916 to 1987
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Empire. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1916Riverbank 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 Empire.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumPeople over time
Empire, census by census
Between 3,903 and 4,202 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Empire’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Empire
Nobody well known was born in Empire itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
G
George LucasAmerican filmmaker and philanthropist · b. 1944
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Empire’s post office has been open since 1851.
Gone or out of use
Garner Schoolschool
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.
Questions about Empire’s history
What year was Empire founded?
The Empire post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Empire rank for history?
Empire is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #437 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 Empire?
4% of Empire’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 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.