Photo: David Prasad from Welches, OR., United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers
How Fairmead began
When was Fairmead founded?
1913
The Fairmead post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Califa (1912), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,235113 years
How historic is Fairmead?
D
More historic than 7% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fairmead post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Fairmead’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fairmead is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fairmead’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 Fairmead’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 D. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 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 Fairmead’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fairmead yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fairmead is a census-designated place in Madera County, California, United States. It is located 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Madera, at an elevation of 253 feet (77 m), and bordered to the northwest by Chowchilla. The population was 1,235 at the 2020 census. A post office operated at Fairmead from 1913 to 1940. The community is impacted by the California High-Speed Rail, as the planned route will dislocate residents.
Its first post office opened in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,447 to 1,235 (-15%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Fairmead, 1912 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Fairmead post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fairmead rank for history?
Fairmead is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns. 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 Fairmead?
1% of Fairmead’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 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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