Los Altos’ post office opened in 1908, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #421 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Los Altos was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1964. Its Register listing is the Paul Shoup House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Los Altos post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1952.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Los Altos’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Los Altos is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #421 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Los Altos’ 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 Los Altos’ 0.3 sits above most of its state (68% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1952.
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 Los Altos’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area was initially called the Fremont Judicial Township, which was formed in 1853. Fremont Judicial Township was later unofficially called "Banks and Braes". Paul Shoup, an executive of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and his colleagues formed the Altos Land Company in 1906 and started the development of Los Altos. The company acquired 140 acres (57 ha) of land from Sarah Winchester. Shoup wanted to link Palo Alto and Los Gatos by making Los Altos a commuter town. It continued a train-a-day operation to and from San Francisco.
Passages that mention Los Altos, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Santa Clara County California1922 · page 1357Read the page →
Read the text
Among the first contracts completed were those for the Los Altos Grammar School, the private residence of Paul Shoup, the president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, at Los Altos; the Ed Seifert Garage at San Jose, and the bridge across Guadalupe Creek at West Santa Clara Street, in San Jose. In 1913, he concreted the reservoirs for the City of Gilroy, which impounds the water-supply for Gilroy and con-
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
Los Altos, 1897 to 2004
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Los Altos post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1952.
How does Los Altos rank for history?
Los Altos is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #421 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 Los Altos?
One place: the Paul Shoup House (listed 2011).
How old are the homes in Los Altos?
4% of Los Altos’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1964.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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.
Date?
2026
2020