The Janesville post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Lassen (1874), Buntingville (1883) and Spoonville (1903), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,461165 years
How historic is Janesville?
C−
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Janesville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Janesville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Janesville is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Janesville’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 Janesville’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 (±5.1 points). 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 Janesville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1860, after the First Battle of Pyramid Lake, part of the Paiute War and the Ormsby Massacre, settlers built a loopholed stockade for protection from an Indian attack that never materialized. The fort, which had a bastion, or block house, in its southwest corner, was located less than a mile from the town of Janesville. The site of the fort is now a California Historic Landmark No.758.
In 1864, Janesville lost to Susanville by one vote from becoming the county seat. The Janesville post office opened in 1861, closed for a time in 1864, changed its name to Lassen in 1914, and was renamed Janesville in 1923. The name honors Jane Bankhead, wife of an early settler.
Passages that mention Janesville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Fairfield's pioneer history of Lassen County, California1916Read the page →
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A. M. Fairfield began teaching at Janesville in the spring of 1875 and followed that profession the most of the time until the summer of 1899. This teaching was done in Honey Lake valley and in five districts — Janesville, Soldier Bridge, Richmond, Johnstonville, and Lake. During the past six years he has been engaged in collecting the material for this history and in writing it. He has lived in this county, excepting four years, ever since the fall of 1865 and most of that time has virtually known every-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Fairfield's Pioneer History of Lassen County California1916Read the page →
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A. M. Fairfield began teaching at Janesville in the spring of, 1875 and followed that profession the most of the time until the summer of 1899. This teaching was done in Honey Lake valley and in five districts—Janesville, Soldier Bridge, Richmond, Johnstonville, and Lake. During the past six years he has been engaged in collecting the material for this history and in writing it. He has lived in this county, excepting four years, ever since the fall of 1865 and most of that time has virtually known every-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Fairfield's pioneer history of Lassen County, California1916Read the page →
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At the March meeting of the Board of Supervisors the Janesville School District was divided, the line between the two districts running north and south through the center of the section west of that in which Janesville is situated. The schoolhouse in the Janesville District was half a mile below town and fifty yards north of the road. Francis L. Parker taught school there that summer. The schoolhouse in the other district, the Stark District, was near the edge of the timber about half a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Fairfield's Pioneer History of Lassen County California1916 · page 390Read the page →
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In April the Board of Supervisors ordered that the report of T. H. Epley and 8S. J. Hill as road viewers be accepted, and the road as recommended be declared a public highway. To wit: Beginning at the village of Janesville and running parallel with the main street in a northwesterly direction about five hundred yards, thence in a northerly direction to the east side of the Sheffield (Pullen) ranch, thence running in a northeasterly direction about five hundred yards, thence running in a north-
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
Janesville, 1861 to 1920
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Janesville post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Janesville rank for history?
Janesville is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns. 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 Janesville?
4% of Janesville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1988.
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, 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.
