On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mead Valley is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #705 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mead Valley’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 Mead Valley’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 (±0.7 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 Mead Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mead Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Riverside sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mead Valley.
The story so far
Mead Valley, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mead Valley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mead Valley is a census-designated place in the Inland Empire region of Riverside County, California. Mead Valley sits at an elevation of 1,663 feet (507 m). The 2020 United States census reported Mead Valley's population was 19,819. Mead Valley is located in a valley of the same name in the northeastern Temescal Mountains, south of the city of Riverside and west of the city of Perris. It is drained by the north fork of Cajalco Creek.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 18,510 to 19,819 (+7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Mead Valley, 1894 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Mead Valley is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #705 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 Mead Valley?
0.6% of Mead Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1979.
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 (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
2025
