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DHistory
History · Kelseyville

Kelseyville’s post office opened in 1882

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #593 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Kelseyville was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1980.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Kglavin · CC BY 2.5
Quick answers

How Kelseyville began

When was Kelseyville founded?

1882

The Kelseyville post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Uncle Sam (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,567 in 19802020 census: 3,382144 years

How historic is Kelseyville?

D

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Kelseyville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kelseyville is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #593 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kelseyville’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.9) · 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 15%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 30%

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 Kelseyville’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 (±0.9 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 Kelseyville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Kelseyville are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19215 editions of the USGS map, 1921 to 1993. Watch Kelseyville change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kelseyville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kelseyville’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
On the map

Kelseyville on the map, 1921 to 1993

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

Kelseyville on the 1921 USGS mapKelseyville on the 1943 USGS mapKelseyville on the 1959 USGS mapKelseyville on the 1974 USGS mapKelseyville on the 1993 USGS map1921Kelseyville 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 Kelseyville.

The story

How Kelseyville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kelseyville.

Read it all →

The area has been formerly designated by European American settlers "Kelsey" or "Kelsey Creek", after Andrew Kelsey, one of the first Anglo-American settlers in Lake County, and his brother Benjamin Kelsey. Both men, along with Charles Stone and E.D. Shirland, acquired Salvador Vallejo's livestock in the Clear Lake area in 1847. Andrew Kelsey and Charles Stone were killed in 1849 in an uprising against him by bands of Wappo and Eastern Pomo whom they had enslaved. This episode led to the Bloody Island Massacre in May 1850.

ChaptersName19th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kelseyville, 1858 to 1921

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Post officeThe Uncle Sam post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe Uncle Sam post office closes
  4. 1882Post officeThe Kelseyville post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1915Born hereLes Webber is born here
  7. 1921On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Kelseyville, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Vineyards in the Red Hills Lake County AVA2024Vineyards in the Red Hills Lake County AVAVineyards in the Red Hills Lake County AVA (cropped)2024Vineyards in the Red Hills Lake County AVA (cropped)Kelsey Creek2024Kelsey CreekCalifornia Historical Landmark No 4262024California Historical Landmark No 426Dock at Ferndale Resort in Soda Bay - With morning fog2011Dock at Ferndale Resort in Soda Bay - With morning fogBeringerredhillslakecounty2008BeringerredhillslakecountyDowntown Kelseyville, Lake County, California, 20072007Downtown Kelseyville, Lake County, California, 2007
Every building

Kelseyville, building by building, 1890–1911

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Kelseyville fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Kelseyville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5001980200020203,382

Grew from 1,567 people in 1980 to 3,382 in 2020.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Kelseyville

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Les WebberAmerican baseball player · b. 1915
L
Lane TannerAmerican winemaker and consultant
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Kelseyville’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Uncle Sam, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Uncle Sam
1858–1882
Kelseyville
1882–today
18501940today
1cemetery inside Kelseyville
Kelseyville

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

Questions about Kelseyville’s history

What year was Kelseyville founded?

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

How does Kelseyville rank for history?

Kelseyville is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #593 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 Kelseyville?

0.5% of Kelseyville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 (7), Wikipedia, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.