Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #658 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of McKinleyville was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1980.
The McKinleyville post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dow's Prairie (1877), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, McKinleyville is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #658 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 McKinleyville’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
McKinleyville had its own post office from 1903 to 1921. Another post office, Dow's Prairie, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of McKinleyville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of McKinleyville.
From Wikipedia’s history of McKinleyville.
The Wiyot and Yurok people continue to live here in their traditional territories and both groups are ingrained within the McKinleyville community.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archive19 ft diameter 320 ft long. Vance Woods - Circa 1905
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on McKinleyville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 7,772 people in 1980 to 16,262 in 2020.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on McKinleyville’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The McKinleyville post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
McKinleyville is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #658 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.
4% of McKinleyville’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 1991.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (8), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.
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