Lockeford’s post office opened in 1861, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 55% of U.S. towns · #128 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Lockeford was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Its Register listings are the Locke's Meat Market, the Harmony Grove Church and the Locke House and Barn. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Lockeford post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lockeford’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lockeford is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #128 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lockeford’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 Lockeford’s 13.0 sits above most of its state (93% of California towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 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 Lockeford’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
Lockeford on the map, 1908 to 1979
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lockeford. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Lockeford 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 Lockeford.
Lockeford is registered as California Historical Landmark #365. The town is named after Dean Jewett Locke, who, with his brother Elmer, settled in the area in 1851. Dean Locke then established a ranch and later the town in the region. It was Dean Locke's wife Delia who first coined the name "Lockeford" in 1859, referencing the ford that he built across the Mokelumne River. Delia Locke's diaries chronicled the early history of Lockeford and her family's history in founding the town. They are available at the University of the Pacific.
On June 13, 2022, Amazon announced that customers in Lockeford will be among the first in the United States to receive Amazon orders via the Amazon Prime Air drone delivery program.
Passages that mention Lockeford, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Stockton from its organization up to the present time, including a sketch of San Joaquin County1880 · page 377Read the page →
Read the text
Lockeford, like Woodbridge, is situated on a a road over which there were many travelers to the mines in Amador county, and it is sixteen miles from Stockton, in a forest of oaks. Land was taken up-and a settlement was made by E. H. Locke, deceased in 1850 . The town was surveyed and laid out, and called, after the founder, Lockeford. In 1865 a brick two-story store was built, and is occupied as the hall of Progressive Lodge, No. 134, I. O.
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.
The Lockeford post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lockeford rank for history?
Lockeford is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns, #128 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 Lockeford?
Three places: the Locke's Meat Market (listed 1982), the Harmony Grove Church (2011) and the Locke House and Barn (1972).
How old are the homes in Lockeford?
8% of Lockeford’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1982.
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), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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