Gridley’s post office opened in 1870, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #160 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Gridley was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Its Register listing is the Hazel Hotel. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
The Gridley post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1905. Another post office, Martinsburgh (1865), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 352 in 18802020 census: 7,421156 years
How historic is Gridley?
B−
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gridley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1905.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gridley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gridley is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #160 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gridley’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 Gridley’s 1.4 sits above most of its state (78% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1905.
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 Gridley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Gridley, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
Tribal groups, including the Maidu people, were settled in the region when they were first encountered by Spanish and Mexican scouting expeditions in the early 18th century. In the 1850s George W. Gridley, a wool grower and grain farmer who at the time was one of the largest landowners in Butte County, settled a 960-acre (390 ha) home ranch west of the town site that was to be named after him. Gridley was established in 1870 when the Oregon and California Railroad was constructed north from Marysville. The railroad reached Chico on July 2, 1870. In the summer of 1891, a series of major fires "nearly swept away" much of Gridley, and the business district was nearly destroyed again by an additional fire in July 1905.
The Gridley post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1905.
How does Gridley rank for history?
Gridley is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #160 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 Gridley?
One place: the Hazel Hotel (listed 2001).
How old are the homes in Gridley?
10% of Gridley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (11), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1905
1939
1939
1939
1939
1939
1939
1939
1942
1942
1942
1942
2017
2017
2016
2014
2008
