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History · Johnsville

Johnsville’s post office opened in 1882, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 2000.

1882first post office
1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Johnsville began

When was Johnsville founded?

1882

The Johnsville post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Jonesville (1857), Jamison (1871) and Eureka Mills (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 21 in 20002020 census: 22144 years
Founding year: the first Johnsville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Johnsville’s past

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

Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Johnsville, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Johnsville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Johnsville had its own post office from 1882 to 1953. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Jonesville
1857–1858
Jamison
1871–1882
Eureka Mills
1875–1895
Johnstown
1882–1882
Johnsville
1882–1953
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
JamisonLittle JamisonPlumas EurekaSquirrel Creek
Gone or out of use
Jamison Minemine
1cemetery inside Johnsville
Johnsville

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

Help out

Start Johnsville’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Johnsville, in brief

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

Johnsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 22 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 20 to 22 (+10%).

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

Timeline

Johnsville, 1857 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Jonesville post office opens
  3. 1858Post officeThe Jonesville post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Jamison post office opens
  5. 1875Post officeThe Eureka Mills post office opens
  6. 1882Post officeThe Jamison post office closes
  7. 1895Post officeThe Eureka Mills post office closes
  8. 20th century
  9. 1906Born hereGeorge Quellich is born here
  10. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Johnsville, decade by decade

Today10 recent
The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron …2012The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsvill…The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron …2012The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsvill…Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron Door, a p…2012Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now la…Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron Door, a p…2012Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now la…Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron Door, a p…2012Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now la…The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron …2012The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsvill…The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron …2012The town cemetery in the old mining town of Johnsvill…Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron Door, a p…2012Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now la…Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron Door, a p…2012Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now la…Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now largely abandoned except for a few residences and the Iron Door, a p…2012Remnants of the old mining town of Johnsville, now la…
On the map

Johnsville on the map, 1943 to 1994

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

Johnsville on the 1943 USGS mapJohnsville on the 1956 USGS mapJohnsville on the 1972 USGS mapJohnsville on the 1994 USGS map1943Blairsden 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 Johnsville.

On the National Register

1 listing protects 17 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
17
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Plumas-Eureka Mill, Jamison Mines District
Plumas-Eureka Mill, Jamison Mines District
Districts
All 1 listings
Plumas-Eureka Mill, Jamison Mines DistrictDistrict · listed 1973

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

People over time

Johnsville, census by census

020002020Peak: 22

Between 20 and 22 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Plumas EurekaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGraeagleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Johnsville’s history

What year was Johnsville founded?

The Johnsville post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Johnsville?

One place: the Plumas-Eureka Mill, Jamison Mines District (listed 1973).

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 (5), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.