Los Banos’ post office opened in 1873, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #322 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Los Banos was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Its Register listings are the Bank of Los Banos Building and the Church of St. Joseph. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Los Banos post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Los Banos’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Los Banos is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #322 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 Los Banos’ 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 Banos’ 0.4 sits above most of its state (70% 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 (±0.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Los Banos’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs 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 year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 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
Los Banos on the map, 1921 to 1987
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Los Banos. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1921Los Banos 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 Los Banos.
The story so far
Los Banos, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Los Banos yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Los Banos ( lohss BAN-ohss), alternatively Los Baños ( lohss BAN-yohss), is a city in Merced County, California, United States. It is located in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California, near the junction of State Route 152 and Interstate 5. Its population was 45,532 at the 2020 census, up from 35,972 at the 2010 census. The city is served by Los Banos Municipal Airport for air transport access.
Its first post office opened in 1873. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 35,972 to 45,532 (+27%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Los Banos in 1925
Passages that mention Los Banos, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Merced County, California1925 · page 369Read the page →
Read the text
was only a short move. The Volta Boosters appear, however, to have reckoned without Miller & Lux, which was quite frequently a mistake on the West Side. There was a map of the Miller & Lux Subdivision of the Town of Los Banos filed on November 28, 1890; the map of the Town of Los Banos, surveyed by L. D. Norton, was not filed until October 29, 1892. Old Los Banos, it will be remem-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Merced County, California1925 · page 803Read the page →
Read the text
tical experience began as teller in the Security Bank, of Atwater; from that he passed into the general merchandise business in Los Banos and next into the First National Bank of Los Banos, where he was assistant cashier for eight years. His standing as a citizen was recognized in his election as a trustee of the city of Los Banos for a term of four years beginning 1920. He is at present in the collecting and accounting business and is an income tax consultant.
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 Banos, 1873 to 1991
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Los Banos post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Los Banos rank for history?
Los Banos is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #322 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 Banos?
Two places: the Bank of Los Banos Building (listed 1979) and the Church of St. Joseph (2004).
How old are the homes in Los Banos?
1% of Los Banos’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1997.
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 (10), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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