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History · Loyalton

Loyalton’s post office opened in 1864, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

1864first post office
0on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain
Quick answers

How Loyalton began

When was Loyalton founded?

1864

The Loyalton post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 740162 years
Founding year: the first Loyalton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Loyalton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Loyalton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Loyalton’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Loyalton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Loyalton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Loyalton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Loyalton.

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Loyalton began as a settlement named "Smith's Neck". The name was changed to Loyalton with the onset of the Civil War, expressing the popular sentiment in the area favoring the Union.

The first settlers to the area were largely Swiss and Italian immigrants who established farms in the Sierra Valley starting in the late 1850s. Sawmills were also established to process timber from the nearby mountains. The production of timber and farms goods found a market among the miners in both California and Nevada. By 1901, the Boca & Loyalton Railroad arrived. The "City of Loyalton" was incorporated that same year.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Loyalton, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Sierra Valley Home Center in2012Sierra Valley Home Center inLibrary in2012Library inHouse in2012House inChristmas display in2012Christmas display in

Questions about Loyalton’s history

What year was Loyalton founded?

The Loyalton post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.