More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #427 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Highgrove was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2008. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1990.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Highgrove’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Highgrove is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #427 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Highgrove’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 Highgrove’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). Two sources give 1886.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Highgrove’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Highgrove was founded in 1886, originally called East Riverside, but in 1897 during a naming contest, it was renamed to Highgrove, after not getting it confused with the city of Riverside. Citrus-farm growers have occupied Highgrove area since beginning of history, with its superior fresh-wind conditions from the west, blowing into east of a cove-shape like terrain, making it one the most valuable places in the Inland Empire for citrus-farming by generations of farmers. Due to the stronger wind conditions that can easily move air out, a landfill dumping ground was opened in 1947 for discarded farm waste. Originally, it operated as a fire-burn dump during the 1950s, until 1960 when there was a concern of heavy-smog in southern California.
Passages that mention Highgrove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Riverside County, California1912 · page 415Read the page →
Read the text
which he set to oranges and where he resided eight years. Findins: he was in a frost belt, he sold out and purchased twelve and onehalf acres upon which he now lives, located near the foot-hills in the Highgrove district, and upon which he has made all the improvements. He also owns another grove of oranges of ten acres near the town of Highgrove. In connection with his orange industry he is engaged in selling fertilizer and handles about four hundred cars annually.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Riverside County, California1912 · page 114Read the page →
Read the text
Highgrove Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in October, 1890. It had only six charter members, but now has a membership of 149. The society built a parsonage in 1891 and a church in 1892, the latter being enlarged in 1904. The pastors have been Digitized by Google
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
Highgrove, 1886 to 1963
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1886, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Highgrove’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1990 counted 3,175 people here.
How does Highgrove rank for history?
Highgrove is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #427 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.
How old are the homes in Highgrove?
5% of Highgrove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 2008.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
