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Hopland DowntownPhoto: Truebluenyc · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Hopland

Hopland’s post office opened in 1875, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1938 on, and old-book passages.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hopland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hopland began

When was Hopland founded?

1875

The Hopland post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sanel (1860), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 661151 years
Founding year: the first Hopland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
The story

How Hopland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hopland.

Read it all →

The Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, or Sho-Ka-Wah, are Central Pomo people who have lived in Hopland since "the beginning of time". The Sho-Ka-Wah lived their lives hunting, gathering, making, practicing spirituality and generally living their lives. Their main village, population 1,500, was called "Shanel". After the settlers came, they were forced to move, and then to move again. Today most of the Sho-Ka-Wah people live in the Hopland reservation 5 miles (8 km) east of Hopland. They have a gambling facility and other businesses to support their community. The community also engages in spirituality, dance traditions, and caring for the land.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Hopland in 1880

Passages that mention Hopland, cut from the printed page as they were published.

year. This was about all the business that was ever carried on in the town, and these buildings, together with some half a dozen dwelling-houses constituted the old town of SaneL Hopland. — In 1874, the new toll-road from Cloverdale to Ukiah was completed along the eastern side of the river, and th…
History of Mendocino County, California1880 · page 465Read the page →
Read the text

year. This was about all the business that was ever carried on in the town, and these buildings, together with some half a dozen dwelling-houses constituted the old town of SaneL Hopland. — In 1874, the new toll-road from Cloverdale to Ukiah was completed along the eastern side of the river, and that was the death-blow to the town of Sanel, but its death gave birth to the new town of Hopland.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
he remained until 1802, when he came to Mendocino county, and after remaining here for two years, he went to Oregon, where he spent about oneand one-half yeais. He then returned to San Francisco, and in 1868 he again came to this county and settled at Hopland, where he has since resided, being enga…
History of Mendocino County, California1880 · page 612Read the page →
Read the text

he remained until 1802, when he came to Mendocino county, and after remaining here for two years, he went to Oregon, where he spent about oneand one-half yeais. He then returned to San Francisco, and in 1868 he again came to this county and settled at Hopland, where he has since resided, being engaged in farming and stock-raising. He owns two thousand live hundred acres of land, as well as the whole town of Hopland, except a store and saloon. He is an enterprising gentleman, and is doing all in his power to build up the town of Hopland. He is always interested in whatever

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

Hopland, 1860 to 1938

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860Post officeThe Sanel post office opens
  3. 1875Post officeThe Hopland post office opens
  4. 1891Post officeThe Sanel post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1906In the archiveHollingsworth family at a migrant worker camp, Hopland, California, about 1906
  7. 1928In the archiveChamise type- Lake County as seen from Lakeport-Hopland Highway, southwest slopes facing …
  8. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hopland, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s5 items
Hollingsworth family at a migrant worker camp, Hopland, California, about 1906c. 1906Hollingsworth family at a migrant worker camp, Hoplan…Chamise type- Lake County as seen from Lakeport-Hopland Highway, southwest slopes facing Kodak chiefly Adenostoma fasci…1928Chamise type- Lake County as seen from Lakeport-Hopla…East slopes chaparral type along Lakeport-Hopland Highway 21928East slopes chaparral type along Lakeport-Hopland Hig…East slopes chaparral type along Lakeport-Hopland Highway1928East slopes chaparral type along Lakeport-Hopland Hig…Mendocino County. Chaparral type mostly Adenostoma fasciculatum and Ceanothus cuneatus1928Mendocino County. Chaparral type mostly Adenostoma fa…
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
Vineyards on US Highway 101 in Hopland - February 2023 - Sarah Stierch 012023Vineyards on US Highway 101 in Hopland - February 202…Saint Francis Roman Catholic Church - February 2023 - Sarah Stierch2023Saint Francis Roman Catholic Church - February 2023 -…Hopland Cemetery - Sarah Stierch - February 20232023Hopland Cemetery - Sarah Stierch - February 2023California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]2012California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]2012California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]2012California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]2012California vineyards [Saracina Vineyards]
On the map

Hopland on the map, 1938 to 1960

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

Hopland on the 1938 USGS mapHopland on the 1943 USGS mapHopland on the 1960 USGS map1938Hopland 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 Hopland.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hollingsworth family at a migrant worker camp, Hopland, California, about 1906
Retake this viewHollingsworth family at a migrant worker camp, Hopland, California, about 1906, c. 1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hopland’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Hopland

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

See all →
Ariana RichardsAmerican artist · b. 1979
ArmanFrench-born American artist · b. 1928
Ralph Waldo RoseAmerican track and field athlete · b. 1885
Hazel Hotchkiss WightmanUS tennis and badminton player · b. 1886
Shiloh FernandezAmerican actor · b. 1985
D
David Del TrediciAmerican composer · b. 1937
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Hopland’s post office has been open since 1875. Another post office, Sanel, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sanel
1860–1891
Hopland
1875–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Old Hopland
1cemetery inside Hopland
Hopland

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

Help out

Finish Hopland’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHollingsworth family at a migrant worke…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Hopland’s history

What year was Hopland founded?

The Hopland post office opened in 1875, 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 (8), the Library of Congress (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.