Exeter’s post office opened in 1889, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns · #176 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Exeter was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Exeter Public Library. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1920.
Founding year: the first Exeter post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Exeter’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Exeter is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #176 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Exeter’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 Exeter’s 1.0 sits above most of its state (76% 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 C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 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 →
Before the arrival of European settlers, Yokuts settled around an area in an oak forest two miles north of Exeter. The current town site was a plain that possessed elk, antelope, frogs, and deer. Rocky Hill, to the east of the city, offered shelter to native tribes when the plain flooded. Several caves on the hill contain petroglyphs, though some of the most important of these were destroyed by local vandals/looters and poorly managed and unsupervised steer.
Passages that mention Exeter, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of the town of Exeter, New Hampshire1888 · page 117Read the page →
Read the text
the court, two of us having taken a survey of the lands about their town and the bounds of other towns adjacent, We whose names are underwritten do judge that the bounds of the town of Exeter shall extend northward to Lamprey river, and from the first fall in Lamprey river six miles upon a west and by north line adjoining to Dover bounds as they are laid out and confirmed, and then two miles further upon the same point of the compass, that to be their north bounds ; and from the foot of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of the town of Exeter, New Hampshire1888 · page 291Read the page →
Read the text
William Robinson, a native of Exeter, left the town after reaching his majority, to seek his fortune elsewhere. In this he was highly successful, and at his death in Augusta, Georgia, where he had resided for many years, he left a large property. After making, by his will, a handsome provision for his widow and relatives, he appointed the town of Exeter his residuary legatee, in trust, for the purpose of establishing a female seminary in which " the course of instruction should be such as would tend to make
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
Exeter, 1889 to 1957
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Exeter. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1926Exeter sheet · 1:31,680
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Exeter.
Every building
Exeter, building by building, 1909–1912
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 year, then a sheet.
The Exeter post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Exeter rank for history?
Exeter is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns, #176 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 Exeter?
One place: the Exeter Public Library (listed 1990).
How old are the homes in Exeter?
8% of Exeter’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (8), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), 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.
1936
1936
1936
1936
1936
Date?
2013
2013
2009
2009
2009
2009
2008
