Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Jamul

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
C−History
History · Jamul

Jamul’s post office opened in 1880

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #558 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Jamul was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1980.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
15old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Jamul’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Jamul began

When was Jamul founded?

1880

The Jamul post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Jamacha (1895), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,826 in 19802020 census: 6,179146 years

How historic is Jamul?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Jamul post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Jamul’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jamul is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #558 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jamul’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.0% of homes (±1.2) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 34%

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 Jamul’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 range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Jamul’s past

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

Mystery photos15 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.A town in old photos15 old photos, postcards and papers.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Jamul, and 4 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jamul’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jamul’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 photo15 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCBP Operations - San Diego Checkpoint: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
By decade

Jamul, decade by decade

Date unknown15 to date
CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointCBP Operations - San Diego CheckpointDate?CBP Operations - San Diego Checkpoint
Today3 recent
Deerhorn Valley Signpost2018Deerhorn Valley Signpost180 degree hi-res panorama from Otay Mountain2012180 degree hi-res panorama from Otay MountainEngine 58 from FWS Fire in Jamul, CA visits with children on the Refuge2011Engine 58 from FWS Fire in Jamul, CA visits with chil…
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Jamul’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Jamacha, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jamul
1880–today
Jamacha
1895–1922
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Indian SpringsJamachaNorth JamulPhelps Corner
Gone or out of use
Las Flores Schoolschool

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

The story so far

Jamul, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Jamul yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Jamul (; Kumeyaay: Ha-mul, meaning "sweet water") is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States. Jamul had a population of 6,179 at the 2020 census, up from 6,163 at the 2010 census. Jamul suffered from the Valley Fire, one of the 2020 California wildfires.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 6,163 in 2010, 6,179 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Jamul, 1880 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Jamul post office opens
  3. 1895Post officeThe Jamacha post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1922Post officeThe Jamacha post office closes
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Jamul on the map, 1943 to 1955

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

Jamul on the 1943 USGS mapJamul on the 1955 USGS map1943Jamul 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 Jamul.

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.

CBP Operations - San Diego Checkpoint
Retake this viewCBP Operations - San Diego Checkpoint

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Jamul, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5001980200020206,179

Grew from 1,826 people in 1980 to 6,179 in 2020, 3 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jamul’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Jamul

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

See all →
C
Cameron DiazAmerican actress and model · b. 1972
Jimmie JohnsonAmerican racing driver · b. 1975
Gregory PeckAmerican actor · b. 1916
Robert DuvallAmerican actor and director · b. 1931
C
Carol GreiderAmerican molecular biologist · b. 1961
D
Dave MustaineAmerican musician · b. 1961
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Rancho San DiegoIts storyD

Questions about Jamul’s history

What year was Jamul founded?

The Jamul post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Jamul rank for history?

Jamul is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #558 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 Jamul?

1% of Jamul’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.