The story
Read it all →How Farmington came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Farmington.
Farmington was so named to distinguish its agricultural setting from the nearby mining regions.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Farmington
Farmington’s post office opened in 1862, and 43% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 2000.
1862first post office
0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Quick answers
How Farmington began
When was Farmington founded?
1862
The Farmington post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 262 in 20002020 census: 220164 years
Founding year: the first Farmington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Farmington’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 Farmington’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Farmington’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Farmington, building by building, 1890–1908
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.
1890Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Farmington, 1890–1923
Passages that mention Farmington, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Historical pamphlets, Julius Gay, Farmington, 1890-19111890 · page 12Read the page →
Read the text
In the year 1743, while these changes were taking place, the inhabitants of the West Society of Hartford living within the limits of the town of Farmington petition the General Assembly to be relieved from paying "ministerial and meeting-house charges" to Farmington, their location being such "as renders it very difficult to have any communication at all with Farmington so as to partake of any of the society privileges or be
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Historical pamphlets, Julius Gay, Farmington, 1890-19111890Read the page →
Read the text
Five years thereafter, in 1645, the village of Tunxis Sepus, literally the village at the bend of the little river, became by legislative enactment the town of Farmington. The settlers found the natural features of the place much as we see them to-day. To the east of the main street their lots extended to the mountain, and on the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of San Joaquin County, California1923 · page 290Read the page →
Read the text
Farmington Farmington is a little settlement well named in 1859 by a man named Wm. Stamper, as it is located in the center of a vast farming district. As early as 1848 two men named David Wells and George Thayer immigrated here from Oregon and erecting a tule house took up 320 acres of land near the present site of
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
Farmington, 1862 to 1947
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Farmington, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your albumOn the map
Farmington on the map, 1947 to 1962
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Farmington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1947San Jose sheet · 1:250,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Farmington.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewCamp of migratory fruit pickers. Farmington, California, 1936
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Farmington’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Farmington, census by census
Between 207 and 262 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Farmington’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Farmington
Nobody well known was born in Farmington itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Questions about Farmington’s history
What year was Farmington founded?
The Farmington post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.