Fremont’s post office opened in 1956, and 5 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #451 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Fremont was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. 5 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 7 buildings between them. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1960.
The Fremont post office opened in 1956, the earliest record of the town by name. Nine smaller post offices, Mission San Jose (1850), Centreville (1855) and Harrisburgh (1865), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 43,790 in 19602020 census: 230,50470 years
How historic is Fremont?
C−
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fremont post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fremont’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fremont is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #451 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fremont’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Fremont ranks #339 on History.
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 Fremont’s 0.5 sits above most of its state (71% of California towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Fremont’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 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 Fremont’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Fremont’s post office has been open since 1956. Nine other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mission San Jose
1850–1960
Centreville
1855–1893
Harrisburgh
1865–1885
Washington Corners
1870–1884
Niles
1873–1960
Irving
1884–1887
Warm Springs
1885–1960
Irvington
1887–1960
Centerville
1893–1956
Fremont
1956–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlbraeCenterville DistrictCurtnerDrawbridgeDresserEberlyIrvington DistrictMallardMattosMeriendaMission San Jose DistrictNiles DistrictNiles JunctionPabricoShinnSnoboyWarm Springs District
Gone or out of use
Anderson Military AcademyschoolBellini QuarrymineDumbartonlocaleFremont AirportairportFremont RacewayslocaleLinda Vista Elementary SchoolschoolMallardlocaleMarshall Elementary SchoolschoolNaval Outlying Landing Field HeathmilitaryNike Site SF-37CmilitaryNike Site SF-37LmilitaryNiles Sand and Gravel PitmineParkway Golf CourselocaleSaint Mary of the Palms SchoolschoolSky Sailing AirportairportSunnyhills Golf CourselocaleWashington Collegeschool
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fremont
Cedar Lawn MemorialFremont Memorial ParkHoly GhostMission San JoseOhlonesPresbyterianSaint Josephs
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Famous people
46 famous people were born in Fremont
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The recorded history of the Fremont area began on June 6, 1797, when Mission San José was founded by the Spaniard Father Fermín de Lasuén. The Mission was established at the site of the Ohlone village of Oroysom. The tribe lived between present-day San Francisco and Monterey and more lands eastward. They lived in dome-shaped shelters made out of redwood bark or woven tule. They were primarily hunter-gatherers; men hunted and trapped waterfowl, rabbits, deer, elk, and bears, whilst women gathered nuts, berries, and root vegetables. The Ohlone tribe lived beside rivers and estuaries because of the natural resources like fish and shellfish. In warm weather, men wore mostly nothing; in the winter, they wore animal hide or feather capes. Other than the weather, ceremonies also decided what the Ohlone men wore. The women wore deerskin aprons over skirts made of tule or shredded bark.
In this disturbed state of the country, travelling became unsafe. Murders were committed, and the two officers whom Fremont had retained as travelling companions, after sending by sea the battalion to Monterey, remonstrated against attempting the journey. Fremont had prepared horses at San Gabriel to mount his original party, and proceed to Mexico, to join liis regiment, or May 9. Otherwise to pursue his explorations.
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
Fremont, 1850 to 1976
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.
The Fremont post office opened in 1956, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fremont rank for history?
Fremont is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #451 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 Fremont?
5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the California Nursery Co. Guest House (listed 1971, the first), and 2 historic districts, the George Washington Patterson Ranch-Ardenwood and the Shinn Ranch Farmstead, with 7 contributing buildings. 12 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fremont?
1% of Fremont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), 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 (17), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
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