More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #677 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Olivehurst was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1950.
Founding year: the first Olivehurst post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Olivehurst’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Olivehurst is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #677 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Olivehurst’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 Olivehurst’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size. 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 Olivehurst’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Olivehurst was first largely settled by people from the Midwest during the Great Depression who were looking for fertile land, availability of jobs and a better future. People from the town have been known to refer to this group of people as "Okies", a term originally for those from Oklahoma who were escaping the "dust bowl" Oklahoma had become during the Great Depression. This is why some of the streets are named after cities in Oklahoma. These "Okies" were following migrant workers such as those of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican and Native American background.
The Olivehurst post office opened in 1941, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Olivehurst rank for history?
Olivehurst is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #677 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 Olivehurst?
3% of Olivehurst’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (18), 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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