Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Fruitdale was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1953. Below: maps from 1889 on and the census since 2000.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fruitdale’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fruitdale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fruitdale.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fruitdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fruitdale is a district of San Jose, California, United States, though some portions are still unincorporated as a census-designated place. The population of the CDP was 989 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 935 to 989 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 895 and 989 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fruitdale’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Fruitdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
