Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #536 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Livingston was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1994. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1930.
The Livingston post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1922.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Livingston is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #536 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls 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 Livingston’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 Livingston’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Livingston. 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 Livingston.
From Wikipedia’s history of Livingston.
The Livingston post office opened in 1873, closed in 1882, and re-opened in 1883. The town was named for Dr. David Livingstone, a Scottish explorer of Africa who was an international celebrity in the late 1800s. An error on the town's post office application resulted in the difference in spelling between his name and the town's.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Livingston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
cated at Dos Palos and since that time has been engaged in his chosen line of work. Among the bridges and buildings he has built are the Santa Rita Slough bridge, built in 1915; the Los Banos Creek bridge over Los Banos Creek, in 1916; the bridge across the Livingston Canal above Atwater; bridges across the double canals on Pacheco Pass lateral; and he has done bridge work all over the San Joaquin Valley. Buildings which stand to his credit are the Medlin block, the Odd Fellows Hall block, the Du Bois block, the George Nickel home
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
son, returned to California via the Isthmus of Panama. He again engaged in mining, then conducted a store at Don Pedro, Tuolumne County; later he removed with his family to Snelling and engaged in ranching. He next purchased 214 acres near Livingston, on the Merced River, where the Central Pacific Railroad built a bridge across that stream. It is related that Thomas Jefferson Simpson was the only farmer in this vicinity who ever received money from the railroad company for a right-of-way; but it was accomplished by force,
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.
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.
1914Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Grew from 803 people in 1930 to 14,172 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Livingston’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Livingston post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1922.
Livingston is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #536 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.
2% of Livingston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1994.
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 (6), 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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