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Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98 · Photo: Covert Martin Collection, Stockton, CA · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Hornitos

Hornitos’ post office opened in 1877, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98. Below: 11 old photos and papers and maps from 1947 on.

1877first post office
1on the National Register
11old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hornitos’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hornitos began

When was Hornitos founded?

1877

The Hornitos post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Hornitas (1856), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 38149 years
Founding year: the first Hornitos post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hornitos’ past

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

Mystery photos11 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hornitos’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo11 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Phot…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hornitos came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hornitos.

Read it all →

The Hornitas post office opened in 1856 and changed its name to Hornitos in 1877. The name, meaning "little ovens" in Spanish, was derived from the community's old Mexican tombstones that were built in the shape of little square bake ovens. Hornitos is registered as California Historical Landmark #333.

Domingo Ghirardelli had a general store here between 1856 and 1859, where he perfected his chocolate recipes. The remains of the store can still be seen in town.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hornitos, 1856 to 1947

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1856Post officeThe Hornitas post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Hornitas post office closes
  4. 1877Post officeThe Hornitos post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hornitos, decade by decade

Date unknown11 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Knowles May 1936 VIEW FROM NORTHEAST - Principal Street and Plaza, H…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Kn…Historic American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Knowles May 1936 VIEW FROM SOUTH - Hornitos HotelDate?Historic American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Kn…Historic American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Knowles Taken May 1936 VIEW FROM NORTHWEST - Adobe HouseDate?Historic American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Kn…Historic American Buildings Survey Sacramento Chamber of Commerce Taken 1934 - JailDate?Historic American Buildings Survey Sacramento Chamber…Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin Collection, Stockton Original- 1925 Re-photo- April 1940 VIEW FROM …Date?Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin C…Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin Collection, Stockton Re-photo- April 1940 - Native Sons of the Gold…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin C…Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin Collection, Stockton Taken 1925 - Fandango Dance HallDate?Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin C…Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin Collection, Stockton Taken 1925 Re-photo- April 1940 - Ghirardelli'…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin C…Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin Collection, Stockton Taken 1925 Re-photo- April 1940 - Masonic Hall…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey V. Covert Martin C…Hornitos HotelDate?Hornitos HotelJailDate?Jail
Today1 recent
Hornitos CA (8)2016Hornitos CA (8)
On the map

Hornitos on the map, 1947 to 1962

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

Hornitos on the 1947 USGS mapHornitos on the 1956 USGS mapHornitos on the 1962 USGS map1947San Jose sheet · 1:250,000

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

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.

Historic American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Knowles May 1936 VIEW FROM NORTHEAST - Principal Street and Plaza, H…
Retake this viewHistoric American Buildings Survey Photo by Wm. H. Knowles May 1936 VIEW FROM NORTHEAST - Principal Street and Plaza, H…

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hornitos

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
2005
Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98
Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98
Buildings
Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98Building

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hornitos

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

See all →
Janet LeighAmerican actress · b. 1927
Ray AllenAmerican basketball player · b. 1975
J
Jacoby ShaddixAmerican singer, songwriter and rapper · b. 1976
R
Ronald D. MooreAmerican screenwriter and television producer · b. 1964
Jalen GreenAmerican basketball player · b. 2002
Bruce BowenAmerican basketball player · b. 1971
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Hornitos’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Hornitas, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hornitas
1856–1877
Hornitos
1877–today
18501940today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hornitos
Hornitos Independent Order of Odd FellowsSaint Catherine's Catholic Church

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

Questions about Hornitos’ history

What year was Hornitos founded?

The Hornitos post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hornitos?

One place: the Hornitos Masonic Hall No. 98 (listed 2005).

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 (10), the Library of Congress (2), 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.