More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #613 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of McFarland was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1950.
Founding year: the first McFarland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1957.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives McFarland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McFarland is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #613 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of McFarland’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 McFarland’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1957.
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 →
In the early 1900s, an educator named James Boyd McFarland moved to the Anaheim area from Zanesville, Ohio, to try his hand at real estate and walnut farming.
McFarland visited Kern County in 1907 and was impressed with the land's crop-growing potential near a community called Hunt's Siding, which was a small agriculture and livestock-based community that served about 50 families. With help from Bakersfield real estate businessman William Laird, McFarland bought 50 acres at the location of what is now McFarland.
The first post office opened in 1908. The town was founded in 1909 (and later became incorporated in 1957). McFarland grew tremendously during the Great Depression of the 1930s, then the population tapered off during World War II.
Passages that mention McFarland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Kern County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1914 · page 187Read the page →
Read the text
The McFarland colonists have made a specialty of dairying, and have been very successful. Good land and a low water lift have formed the basis for a thorough demonstration of the practicability of pump irrigation, and to McFarland, perhaps, belongs the honor of having first answered that question past all shadow of doubt. In five years the place has progressed from a tract of absolutely virgin land to a town of 300 people and a colony of over 100 pumping plants, with telephone, electric light and electric power service, a new railroad depot, a creamery, ice plant, bank, two churches, a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Kern County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1914 · page 1176Read the page →
Read the text
In 1911 Mr. Petersen came to McFarland and became manager of the McFarland Creamery Company, engaged in the manufacture of butter, and since then the compan)- has taken first prize at the state fair for the best quality of butter in the state. The company is also engaged in the manufacture of ice. Mr. Petersen owns twenty acres three-quarters of a mile west Lif McFarland, where he has built his home and is engaged in intensified farming and the dairy business. He has two pumping plants yielding one hundred and twenty-five inches of water, not only supplying his own place
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
McFarland, 1908 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The McFarland post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1957.
How does McFarland rank for history?
McFarland is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #613 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 McFarland?
6% of McFarland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (9), 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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