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Jess Valley SchoolhouseJess Valley Schoolhouse · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Likely

Likely’s post office opened in 1886

Below: maps from 1983 on.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
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Quick answers

How Likely began

When was Likely founded?

1886

The Likely post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, South Fork (1878), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 58140 years
Founding year: the first Likely post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Likely’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 Likely are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Likely’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Likely came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Likely.

Read it all →

Likely now occupies what was originally an Achumawi (Pit River) village known as Hamawe or Hammawi. The town was initially known as South Fork, named after the South Fork of the Pit River, and was renamed at the insistence of the United States Post Office, which insisted at that time that Post Offices could only have short, unique names. Residents were unable to agree what to name their town until a local rancher observed that they would most likely never agree upon a name, at which point someone nominated the name, "Likely", and the name was voted in. The South Fork post office operated from 1878 to 1882. The Likely post office opened in 1886.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Likely, 1878 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe South Fork post office opens
  3. 1882Post officeThe South Fork post office closes
  4. 1886Post officeThe Likely post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1983On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Likely, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Likely General Store2014Likely General StoreJess Valley Schoolhouse2014Jess Valley SchoolhouseLikely2004Likely
On the map

Likely on the map, 1983 to 1990

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

Likely on the 1983 USGS mapLikely on the 1990 USGS map1983Alturas sheet · 1:100,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Likely.

Famous people

Famous people close to Likely

Nobody well known was born in Likely itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ernest S. BrownAmerican politician · b. 1903
S
Steven KistlerAmerican chemical engineer · b. 1900
R
Robert LaxaltAmerican writer · b. 1923
B
Bob MeadAmerican politician · b. 1937
M
Marie WilsonSurrealist painter · b. 1922
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Likely’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, South Fork, opened and closed inside today’s town.

South Fork
1878–1882
Likely
1886–today
18701950today
1cemetery inside Likely
Likely

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

Questions about Likely’s history

What year was Likely founded?

The Likely post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.