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A−History
History · Mill Valley

Mill Valley’s post office opened in 1890, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #27 of 847 in California. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
4on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mill Valley’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mill Valley began

When was Mill Valley founded?

1890

The Mill Valley post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,551 in 19102020 census: 14,231136 years

How historic is Mill Valley?

A−

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Mill Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Mill Valley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mill Valley is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #27 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mill Valley’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194028.2% of homes (±4.9) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register4 listings, 15 historic buildings, 10.7 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 97%

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 Mill Valley’s 10.7 sits above most of its state (92% of California towns have fewer) while its 15 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 →

What stands out about Mill Valley’s past

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

On the map since 18976 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1993. Watch Mill Valley change.A town in postcards18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1906–1930.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Mill Valley’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · On the map

Mill Valley on the map, 1897 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mill Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mill Valley on the 1897 USGS mapMill Valley on the 1941 USGS mapMill Valley on the 1954 USGS mapMill Valley on the 1968 USGS mapMill Valley on the 1980 USGS mapMill Valley on the 1993 USGS map1897Tamalpais 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 Mill Valley.

By decade

Mill Valley, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s18 items
Mill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais, Calif1906Mill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais, CalifPostcardMillValleyCAwithMountTamalpaisCirca1910c. 1910PostcardMillValleyCAwithMountTamalpaisCirca1910Postcard1676A - Tourist Club1930s1676A - Tourist ClubPostcardChef's Kitchen Restaurant, Mill Valley, California postcard1930sChef's Kitchen Restaurant, Mill Valley, California po…PostcardDavies Photo Service - City Hall1930sDavies Photo Service - City HallPostcardEd Wood 412 - Main Dining Room, Mountain Home Inn1930sEd Wood 412 - Main Dining Room, Mountain Home InnPostcardEd Wood M351 - Mt. Tamalpais from the Mountain Home Inn1930sEd Wood M351 - Mt. Tamalpais from the Mountain Home I…PostcardEd Wood M356 - The Mountain Home on Mt. Tamalpais, California1930sEd Wood M356 - The Mountain Home on Mt. Tamalpais, Ca…PostcardEd Wood M407 - Entrance Mountain Home Inn, Mt. Tamalpais, California1930sEd Wood M407 - Entrance Mountain Home Inn, Mt. Tamalp…PostcardMH3 - Mountain Home Inn1930sMH3 - Mountain Home InnPostcardRailroad Station, Mill Valley, California postcard1930sRailroad Station, Mill Valley, California postcardPostcardRussel & Gooch Funeral Chapel1930sRussel & Gooch Funeral ChapelPostcardZan 27 - Entering1930sZan 27 - EnteringPostcardZan 44 - Mt. Tamalpais Above1930sZan 44 - Mt. Tamalpais AbovePostcardZan 998 - Mountain Home Inn, Mill Valley, Calif1930sZan 998 - Mountain Home Inn, Mill Valley, CalifPostcardZan M152 - Entering Milly Valley, California1930sZan M152 - Entering Milly Valley, CaliforniaPostcardZan M1531930sZan M153PostcardZan M170 - Throckmorton Avenue1930sZan M170 - Throckmorton AvenuePostcard
1940s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the National Register

4 listings protect 15 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
15
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
Outdoor Art Club
Outdoor Art ClubMuir Woods National MonumentWest Point InnMill Valley City Hall and Fire Station
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Rustic1
Moderne1
Late Victorian1
Shingle1
Outdoor Art ClubBuilding
Muir Woods National MonumentRustic
West Point InnLate Victorian
All 4 listings
Mill Valley City Hall and Fire StationBuilding · listed 2026

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Mill Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Mill Valley.

Read it all →

The first people known to inhabit Marin County, the Coast Miwok, arrived approximately 6,500 years ago. The territory of the Coast Miwok encompasses all of Marin County, north to Bodega Bay and southern Sonoma County. More than 600 village sites have been identified, including 14 sites in the Mill Valley area. Nearby archaeological discoveries include rock carvings and grain-grinding sites on Ring Mountain. The pre-Missionization population of the Coast Miwok is estimated to have been between 1,500 (Alfred L. Kroeber's estimate for the year 1770 AD) and 2,000 (Sherburne F. Cook's estimate for the same year). The pre-Spanish era Coast Miwok population may have even been as high as 5,000. Cook speculated that by 1848, their population had decreased to merely 300, from foreign disease-exposure and Spanish violence, and was down to 60 by 1880. As of 2011, there are over 1,000 registered mem…

ChaptersCoast MiwokEarly settlersIncorporation through WWII1950s to present

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Mill Valley, 1890 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Mill Valley post office opens
  3. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906In the archiveMill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais, Calif
  6. 1908Born hereEve Arden is born here
  7. 1910In the archivePostcardMillValleyCAwithMountTamalpaisCirca1910
  8. 1930In the archive1676A - Tourist Club
  9. 1961Born hereMariel Hemingway is born here
  10. 1971Born hereMaury Sterling is born here
  11. 1999Born hereSalem Ilese is born here
Every building

Mill Valley, building by building, 1903–1908

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Mill Valley fire insurance map, 1903, sheet 11903Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais, Calif
Retake this viewMill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais, Calif, 1906

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mill Valley’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Mill Valley, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00019201940196019802000202014,231

Grew from 2,551 people in 1910 to 14,231 in 2020, 5 times over.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mill Valley’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Mill Valley

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Eve ArdenAmerican actress · b. 1908
Mariel HemingwayAmerican actress and author · b. 1961
Maury SterlingAmerican actor · b. 1971
Salem IleseAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1999
Art SchallockAmerican baseball player · b. 1924
Tony FreitasAmerican baseball player · b. 1908
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Mill Valley’s post office has been open since 1890.

Hamlets and corners on the map
AlmonteAltoHomestead Valley
Gone or out of use
Reads Milllocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Mill Valley’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMill Valley and Mt. Tamalpais, Calif: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Tamalpais-Homestead ValleyIts storyCCorte MaderaIts storyCAltoIts storyC−StrawberryIts storyD−Larkspur4 historic placesBKentfieldIts storyC−

Questions about Mill Valley’s history

What year was Mill Valley founded?

The Mill Valley post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Mill Valley rank for history?

Mill Valley is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #27 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.

What is on the National Register in Mill Valley?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Outdoor Art Club (listed 1978, the first), and 1 historic district, the Muir Woods National Monument, with 5 contributing buildings. 15 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Mill Valley?

28% of Mill Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1958.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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).

From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.