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CHistory
History · Orangevale

Orangevale’s post office opened in 1891, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #340 of 847 in California. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Chung Wah Cemetery. Most of Orangevale was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1914 on.

1891first post office
1on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Orangevale began

When was Orangevale founded?

1891

The Orangevale post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 35,569135 years

How historic is Orangevale?

C

More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Orangevale’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orangevale is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #340 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 Orangevale’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.3% of homes (±0.6) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 29%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 60%

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 Orangevale’s 0.3 sits above most of its state (67% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 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 Orangevale’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Orangevale are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19146 editions of the USGS map, 1914 to 1980. Watch Orangevale change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Orangevale’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Orangevale on the map, 1914 to 1980

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

Orangevale on the 1914 USGS mapOrangevale on the 1941 USGS mapOrangevale on the 1954 USGS mapOrangevale on the 1967 USGS mapOrangevale on the 1975 USGS mapOrangevale on the 1980 USGS map1914Folsom sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Orangevale.

The story

How Orangevale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orangevale.

Read it all →

Originally Orange Vale Colony, the community began as part of the 1844 Rancho San Juan Mexican land grant. The area was rural and home to numerous orange groves. Oak trees (remnants of which can be seen in the Orangevale Park) were common, as were trails made by Maidu Native Americans many years before. In addition to orange groves, several olive orchards were also once in the area, and some original trees can still be found along Chestnut, Orangevale, Main, and Walnut Avenues.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Orangevale, 1891 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Orangevale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1989Born hereDevin Dawson is born here
By decade

Orangevale, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Old concrete tile roof with a bad sad sag2015Old concrete tile roof with a bad sad sagBad Sag2013Bad SagWireframe of Nicolas Garden mobile app2012Wireframe of Nicolas Garden mobile appPlant sign trail 3182012Plant sign trail 318Plant Signs A2012Plant Signs AOrangevale 23222012Orangevale 2322Orangevale 23182012Orangevale 2318Oak Ave2012Oak AveOak Ave, Orangevale, CA - panoramio (2)2012Oak Ave, Orangevale, CA - panoramio (2)Oak Ave, Orangevale, CA - panoramio (1)2012Oak Ave, Orangevale, CA - panoramio (1)Illinois Avenue Orangevale, Calif2012Illinois Avenue Orangevale, CalifIllinois Avenue Orangevale, Calif. - panoramio (2)2012Illinois Avenue Orangevale, Calif. - panoramio (2)Illinois Avenue Orangevale, Calif. - panoramio (1)2012Illinois Avenue Orangevale, Calif. - panoramio (1)Hazel Avenue2012Hazel AvenueHazel Avenue Orangevale, CA - panoramio (1)2012Hazel Avenue Orangevale, CA - panoramio (1)Granger Hall, 9792012Granger Hall, 979Geocaching in2012Geocaching inPipilo crissalis -Orangevale, California, USA-82011Pipilo crissalis -Orangevale, California, USA-8
On the National Register

1 historic place in Orangevale

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Chung Wah Cemetery
Chung Wah Cemetery
Sites

Architectural styles listings

Shrine1
Vault1
Chung Wah CemeteryShrine

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Orangevale’s post office has been open since 1891.

Gone or out of use
La Vista CenterschoolPalisades Elementary SchoolschoolVictory Christian Elementary SchoolschoolVictory Christian Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Orangevale
Mount Vernon Memorial Park and Mortuary

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Folsom5 historic placesC+Fair Oaks2 historic placesCCitrus HeightsIts storyD−

Questions about Orangevale’s history

What year was Orangevale founded?

The Orangevale post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Orangevale rank for history?

Orangevale is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #340 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 Orangevale?

One place: the Chung Wah Cemetery (listed 1995).

How old are the homes in Orangevale?

1% of Orangevale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.