Most of Mountain Ranch was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Below: maps from 1945 on and the census since 2000.
The settlement was established during the California Gold Rush. Mountain Ranch's post office was established in 1858. In 1868, it was moved to another town called El Dorado Camp 1.5 miles south, as there was already an El Dorado post office in California, El Dorado Camp became known as Mountain Ranch. Currently, there are 3 post office buildings in the town. The present one, a small post office which was built in 1956, and a post office built in 1923 which was once billed as the world's smallest post office. The original location of the town of Mountain Ranch also has a historical landmark. The bell on the historical marker was used in the local school from 1885 to 1953. Established as Cave City School District in 1855, this school joined with the Banner District in 1946 to become the El Dorado Union Elementary School District. In 1942 the last of the gold mines closed. Further econom…
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mountain Ranch. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1945San Andreas 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 Mountain Ranch.
People over time
Mountain Ranch, census by census
Between 223 and 1,628 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mountain Ranch’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
Famous people close to Mountain Ranch
Nobody well known was born in Mountain Ranch itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (2), 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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