More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #572 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Loyola was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Below: maps from 1897 on and the census since 1990.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Loyola is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #572 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 Loyola’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 Loyola’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.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.2 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Loyola’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The name comes from a 1904 plan by the Jesuits of Santa Clara University to build a new university named for their founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, in the area. If the plan had come to fruition, the university would have been located in the area of the present-day golf course on Country Club Drive. The Loyola project succumbed to delays and financing problems stemming from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Passages that mention Loyola, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Santa Clara County California1922 · page 1489Read the page →
Read the text
he was superintendent and business manager at the University of Santa Clara and the next year was spent at Los Angeles as chaplain and manager of Loyola College of Southern California. On July 31, 1918, he was made pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at San Jose, of which he has since had charge, his parish now being a large one. He gives his whole heart to the work and under his guidance
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.
Loyola is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #572 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.
How old are the homes in Loyola?
3% of Loyola’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 (5), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
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