Lincoln’s post office opened in 1862, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #306 of 847 in California. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Lincoln Public Library and the Woman's Club of Lincoln. Most of Lincoln was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Lincoln post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lincoln’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lincoln is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #306 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lincoln’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 Lincoln’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (68% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1890 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Lincoln’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the map
Lincoln on the map, 1910 to 1992
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lincoln. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1910Lincoln sheet · 1:31,680
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lincoln.
The original townsite was surveyed and laid out in 1859 by Theodore Judah along the proposed line of the California Central Railroad. The name Lincoln was conferred in honor of Charles Lincoln Wilson, one of the organizers, who was a fundraiser and a management contractor of the California Central Railroad (CCRR). The CCRR was planned as a rail link between the cities of Marysville and Sacramento via a connection to the Sacramento Valley Railroad in Folsom. Grading from Folsom to Marysville commenced in 1858 and was completed up to Grider's Ranch (Roseville) by 1859.
Passages that mention Lincoln, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The true story of Abraham Lincoln, the American, told for boys and girls1896 · page 154Read the page →
Read the text
call Abraham Lincoln a great man. He rose from poor beginnings and was called * Honest Abe Lincoln.' But other men have done quite as much as that. Other men have risen from nothing and become famous. Lincoln was not rich; he was not fine looking; he was not much more than a good-natured, respectable lawyer in a western town, who had been sent to the legislature two or three times and had been to congress. We could pick out lots of Americans
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
Lincoln, 1859 to 1988
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Lincoln post office opened in 1862, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.
How does Lincoln rank for history?
Lincoln is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #306 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.
What is on the National Register in Lincoln?
Two places: the Lincoln Public Library (listed 1990) and the Woman's Club of Lincoln (2001).
How old are the homes in Lincoln?
2% of Lincoln’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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, 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.
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