Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hardwick

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Hardwick CAPhoto: Armona · CC BY 3.0
–Not graded
History · Hardwick

Hardwick’s post office opened in 1895, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1927 on.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Armona · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Hardwick began

When was Hardwick founded?

1895

The Hardwick post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 151131 years
Founding year: the first Hardwick post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hardwick’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 Hardwick are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hardwick’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hardwick’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
The story

How Hardwick came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hardwick.

Read it all →

Hardwick was reportedly named to commemorate an official of the Southern Pacific Railroad.

A post office was established in Hardwick in 1895, discontinued in 1904, reestablished in 1909, and finally permanently closed in 1942. Subsequently, the community has been served by the post office located in Hanford.

The first school in the community was moved from the then-fading town of Kingston. Another schoolhouse was reportedly built in 1893. Subsequently, a new school was constructed in 1914 and operated until the Hardwick and Kings River schools unified in 1962. The present fire station is located on the site of that school.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hardwick, 1895 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Hardwick post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1942Post officeThe Hardwick post office closes
By decade

Hardwick, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Hardwick CA2008Hardwick CA
On the map

Hardwick on the map, 1927 to 1953

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

Hardwick on the 1927 USGS mapHardwick on the 1953 USGS map1927Laton sheet · 1:31,680

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Hardwick had its own post office from 1895 to 1942.

Hardwick
1895–1942
18901960today

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

Questions about Hardwick’s history

What year was Hardwick founded?

The Hardwick post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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), 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.