More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #655 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Kerman was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1911 on and the census since 1950.
Photo: David Jordan at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers
How Kerman began
When was Kerman founded?
1906
The Kerman post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Collis (1894), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,563 in 19502020 census: 16,016120 years
How historic is Kerman?
D
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Kerman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Kerman’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kerman is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #655 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kerman’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 Kerman’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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 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 Kerman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Around 1891, the Southern Pacific Railroad constructed a new line between Tracy and Fresno. A watering tank and pump on that line was the beginning of Kerman, which was christened Collis in honor of the President of the railroad, Collis Potter Huntington. The first inhabitant, the caretaker of the pump and tank, kept the tank full of water for the thirsty engines with their long and lumbering trains. After some months, he resigned his job, not because of the work, he said, but because it was too lonesome and he was tired of being a hermit. He said he never saw anyone but the train crews and they were always in too big a hurry to carry on a conversation.
Passages that mention Kerman, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1919 · page 2155Read the page →
Read the text
In July, 1909, California was fortunate in attracting Mr. Swift, who chose Kerman as the most promising of all fields, and he took over the plant of the Kerman News Company, of which he at once became president and manager. He also assumed the responsibilities of editor, and took charge of the "Kerman News." This paper had been established in November, 1908, and incorporated as The Kerman News Co. It was not long before he raised it to that standard as an indispensable adjunct of the life of the town, that it had over 500 subscribers. Week after week Mr. Swift and his staff have put out
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1919 · page 1617Read the page →
Read the text
in the dairy. Then he engaged with Myers & Emery to farm for grain and for a year took charge of their ranch ; and having given entire satisfaction, he put in a second year in the same place. He was next in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, pumping water at Kerman, but tiring of the loneliness of the place at that time, where he saw only the depot and the section house, for three and a half miles round about, he quit and came to Barstow district.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fresno County California with Biographical Sketches1919 · page 272Read the page →
Read the text
Still further west of Kerman, branching at Ingle and running south is a line through Tranquillity, Graham, Caldwell, Helm and other slough settlements to Riverdale on the Laguna, the Hanford and Summit Lake Railroad. This line is in the rich slough country formed by the back water from the San Joaquin and the overflow from the Kings. A great reclamation work is in progress there. The 72,000-acre James ranch has been opened to colonization and is being developed by its syndicate successor, the Graham Farm Lands Company incorporated for $3,000,000 to handle the 113-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fresno County California with Biographical Sketches1919 · page 120Read the page →
Read the text
This great mass of tree logs was left stranded where the river lost its velocity by spreading over the low plains on the Chidester place, near where Kerman and the Skaggs concrete bridge are today, probably fifteen or twenty miles below Millerton. So great was the accumulation that Badger & Bellus, with whom one Jenkins was associated, erected a small saw mill there, and for a season and longer cut up the trees into lumber.
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
Kerman, 1894 to 1922
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
People over time
Kerman, census by census
Grew from 1,563 people in 1950 to 16,016 in 2020, more than tenfold.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kerman’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Kerman’s post office has been open since 1906. Another post office, Collis, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Collis
1894–1906
Kerman
1906–today
18901960today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Kerman’s history
What year was Kerman founded?
The Kerman post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kerman rank for history?
Kerman is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #655 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 Kerman?
4% of Kerman’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1993.
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
2006