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History · Geyserville

Geyserville’s post office opened in 1888, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Geyserville Union School. Below: maps from 1920 on.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: CrabTree13 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Geyserville began

When was Geyserville founded?

1888

The Geyserville post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Clairville (1858) and Guyserville (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 861138 years
Founding year: the first Geyserville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Geyserville’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Geyserville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Geyserville, and 1 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19205 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1993. Watch Geyserville change.Old housesHalf of Geyserville’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Geyserville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Geyserville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Geyserville’s post office has been open since 1888. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Clairville
1858–1887
Guyserville
1887–1888
Geyserville
1888–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Omus

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Geyserville on the map, 1920 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Geyserville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Geyserville on the 1920 USGS mapGeyserville on the 1940 USGS mapGeyserville on the 1955 USGS mapGeyserville on the 1975 USGS mapGeyserville on the 1993 USGS map1920Healdsburg sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Geyserville.

The story

How Geyserville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Geyserville.

Read it all →

Geyserville, located on the Rancho Tzabaco Mexican land grant, owes its foundation to the discovery in 1847 of a series of hot springs, fumaroles, and steam vents in a gorge in the mountains of Sonoma County, California, between Calistoga and Cloverdale. This complex, which became known as The Geysers, soon became a tourist attraction, and a settlement grew up to provide accommodation and serve as a gateway to The Geysers. It was initially known as Clairville but subsequently renamed Geyserville. After the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad was extended to Cloverdale in the 1870s, its trains stopped in Geyserville.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Geyserville, 1858 to 1921

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Clairville post office opens
  3. 1887Post officeThe Clairville post office closes
  4. 1887Post officeThe Guyserville post office opens
  5. 1888Post officeThe Guyserville post office closes
  6. 1888Post officeThe Geyserville post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1920On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1921BuiltGeyserville Union School is built
By decade

Geyserville, decade by decade

Today1 recent
GeyservilleMural2011GeyservilleMural
On the National Register

1 historic place in Geyserville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Geyserville Union School
Geyserville Union School, built 1921
Buildings
All 1 listings
Geyserville Union SchoolBuilding · listed 1979

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Geyserville

Nobody well known was born in Geyserville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Rebecca De MornayAmerican actress · b. 1959
Julie LondonAmerican actress and singer · b. 1926
Ariana RichardsAmerican artist · b. 1979
Ralph Waldo RoseAmerican track and field athlete · b. 1884
Jussie SmollettAmerican actor · b. 1982
Hazel Hotchkiss WightmanUS tennis and badminton player · b. 1886

Questions about Geyserville’s history

What year was Geyserville founded?

The Geyserville post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Geyserville?

One place: the Geyserville Union School (listed 1979).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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 Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.