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History · Oakville

Oakville’s post office opened in 1857, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

Its Register listings are the Oakville Grocery and the Far Niente Winery. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1942 on.

1857first post office
2on the National Register
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Oakville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Oakville began

When was Oakville founded?

1857

The Oakville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 49169 years
Founding year: the first Oakville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Oakville’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oakville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oakville’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewRobert Mondavi Winery: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Oakville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oakville.

Read it all →

Oakville started life in the 1860s as a water stop for the steam train owned by The Napa Valley Railroad Company. The railroad, founded by early California pioneer Samuel Brannan in 1864, shuttled tourists between ferry boats that docked in Vallejo to the resort town of Calistoga. The village gained its name from the dense groves of dark green valley oaks of the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oakville, 1857 to 1999

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857Post officeThe Oakville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1999In the archiveRobert Mondavi Winery
By decade

Oakville, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s2 items
Robert Mondavi Winery1999Robert Mondavi WineryRobert Mondavi entrance1999Robert Mondavi entrance
Today4 recent
Vintage Coca-Cola sign on an outside wall of a grocery store2012Vintage Coca-Cola sign on an outside wall of a grocer…Oakville Grocery, 7856 St. Helena Hwy., Oakville, CA 10-9-2011 4-57-11 PM2011Oakville Grocery, 7856 St. Helena Hwy., Oakville, CA …Oakville Grocery, 7856 St. Helena Hwy., Oakville, CA 10-9-2011 4-56-05 PM2011Oakville Grocery, 7856 St. Helena Hwy., Oakville, CA …Heitz vineyards Mark Brady2005Heitz vineyards Mark Brady
On the map

Oakville on the map, 1942 to 1968

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

Oakville on the 1942 USGS mapOakville on the 1951 USGS mapOakville on the 1968 USGS map1942Sonoma 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 Oakville.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Oakville

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1979
Far Niente Winery
Oakville Grocery
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

False-Front Commercial1
Oakville GroceryFalse-Front Commercial
All 2 listings
Far Niente WineryBuilding · listed 1979

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Oakville

Nobody well known was born in Oakville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Rebecca De MornayAmerican actress · b. 1959
Julie LondonAmerican actress and singer · b. 1926
Pauline KaelAmerican film critic · b. 1919
Jussie SmollettAmerican actor · b. 1982
Nicole MannAmerican astronaut of Estonian origin · b. 1977
Chad ChanningAmerican musician · b. 1967

Questions about Oakville’s history

What year was Oakville founded?

The Oakville post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Oakville?

Two places: the Oakville Grocery (listed 1993) and the Far Niente Winery (1979).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.