Founding year: the first Knightsen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Knightsen’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Knightsen is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Knightsen’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 Knightsen’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±14.4 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 Knightsen’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Knightsen is a small, unincorporated community of 1,568 residents and 1,500 horses in far eastern Contra Costa County, California in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area closest to Oakley, California. The community was founded by George W. Knight, and its name is a portmanteau of his last name and his wife (Christina Christensen). Knightsen has the oldest chapter of the 4-H Club in California. The community worries about urban sprawl from expanding development in neighboring Oakley. However, a significant portion of the community lies within the agricultural conservation zone in the Brentwood, general plan.
Passages that mention Knightsen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Contra Costa County, California1917Read the page →
Read the text
When the Santa Fe Railway in the summer of 1898 made its preliminary survey through this part of Contra Costa County the town of Knightsen was founded. In the fall of the same year the road-bed was graded, and late in 1899 the company began to lay its track. In the spring of 1900 passenger and freight trains began to run. The first building erected in the new town was the company's section-house, and this was soon followed by the railroad station, with a pumping plant to supply the locomotives with water.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Contra Costa County, California1917 · page 215Read the page →
Read the text
In 1905 it was found necessary to build a new schoolhouse, to be located nearer to the town of Knightsen. Four acres was purchased for a school site. The new structure was completed in June, 1906, at a cost of $7000 for building and grounds. It was occupied during the fall term of that year.
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
Knightsen, 1900 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Knightsen post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Knightsen rank for history?
Knightsen is more historic than 26% 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 Knightsen?
18% of Knightsen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±14.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 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.
