Milpitas dates to 1852, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #350 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Milpitas was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Its Register listings are the Milpitas Grammar School and the Alviso, Jose Maria, Adobe. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1960.
Milpitas dates its founding to 1852 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.
First census: 6,572 in 19602020 census: 80,273174 years
How did Milpitas get its name?
The name means "Place of little cornfields".
More on the name
The word milpa is derived from the Nahuatl words milli, meaning "agricultural field," and pan, meaning "on". The name Milpitas, perhaps used by Jose Maria Alviso to name his land grant, Rancho de las Milpitas, may have meant that there had been small Native American gardens nearby because of the rich alluvial soils of the area.
How historic is Milpitas?
C
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milpitas is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #350 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 Milpitas’ 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 Milpitas’ 0.3 sits above most of its state (66% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1852.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Milpitas’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Milpitas was first inhabited by Tamien people, a subgroup of the Ohlone people who had resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for thousands of years. The Ohlone Indians lived a traditional life based on everyday hunting and gathering. Some of the Ohlone lived in various villages within what is now Milpitas, including sites underneath what are now the Calvary Assembly of God Church and Higuera Adobe Park. Archaeological evidence gathered from Ohlone graves at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in 1993 revealed a rich trade with other tribes from Sacramento to Monterey.
Passages that mention Milpitas, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Santa Clara County California1922 · page 1068Read the page →
Read the text
electric turbine pump capable of throwing an unusually large stream. Mr. Brandt also became the owner of twelve acres on Calaveras Road, adjoining Milpitas on the east. The Western Pacific bought five acres of this land in 1920; that company completed its new depot and laid out the Milpitas station yards early in 1922.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Santa Clara County California1922 · page 698Read the page →
Read the text
In 1891 he was made station agent at Milpitas, and twenty years later, when the Bank of Milpitas was opened, he became the first cashier, and he has held that responsible position, to the satisfaction of everyone dealing with the bank ever since. His genial personality has rendered him approachable, and his valuable connections have given him and the important financial institution he represents many legitimate ad-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Santa Clara County, California1881 · page 306Read the page →
Read the text
MiLPiTAS. — The first building constructed in the town of Milpitas is now used as a portion of the store conducted by Mr. Clark, and was erected by F. Creighton, on the position it now occupies, in 1855-6. Here was opened, in 1856, the first post-ofiice, with Mr. Creighton as the postmaster, and J. R. Weller, Deputy. In the year 1857, W. Riddell constructed the first hotel, in a building belonging to John Gallagher. This hostelry was conducted by James Kinney, who was succeeded by A. French. In the jea,v 1860, the structure was destroyed by fire, but was immediately rebuilt by
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
Milpitas, 1852 to 2000
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
1893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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.
Retake this viewJose Maria Alviso Adobe
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Milpitas’ page.
In 1852, according to Wikidata. Milpitas’ post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1960 counted 6,572 people here.
How does Milpitas rank for history?
Milpitas is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #350 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 Milpitas?
Two places: the Milpitas Grammar School (listed 1993) and the Alviso, Jose Maria, Adobe (1997).
How old are the homes in Milpitas?
0.4% of Milpitas’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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, 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.
Date?
2020
2014
