Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1990.
The Le Grand post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Le Grand is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Le Grand’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Le Grand’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Le Grand. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Le Grand.
From Wikipedia’s history of Le Grand.
The first post office opened in 1896. The name honors William Le Grand Dickinson, who sold the railroad (the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, later the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Valley Division) land for the town.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Le Grand, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Deciding to enter business for himself, he bought the drug store at Philomath, Ore., and ran the establishment for five years. He then came to Merced County and first worked as clerk in the Cody Drug Store at Le Grand, and later in Cody's store in Merced, also in the Maze Drug Store there. In 1920, he bought the Cody store at Le Grand, and has since that time been proprietor of this establishment, running it as an up-to-date drug store and catering to the wants of his many patrons in Le Grand and surrounding territory. He was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
familiarly called the Mariposa Grant, which was one of the class called "floating grants," which was finally permanently located in the present Mariposa County, but which earlier had been located on the rich plains land in the vicinity of the present town of Le Grand in Merced County. After a first expedition in 1842 whose chief work was, from a geographical standpoint, the careful surveying of the route through the South Pass of the Rockies and the detailed knowledge acquired of
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1918Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Between 1,205 and 1,760 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Le Grand’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Le Grand itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Le Grand post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Le Grand is more historic than 31% 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.
11% of Le Grand’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
2008