Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #29 of 847 in California. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Asilomar Conference Grounds, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 11 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1890.
Pacific Grove dates its founding to 1875 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pacific Grove is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #29 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Pacific Grove’s 12.7 sits above most of its state (93% of California towns have fewer) while its 19 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
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.
1888Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pacific Grove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Pacific Grove.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pacific Grove.
The first people to inhabit Pacific Grove were members of the Ohlone Rumsen tribe who lived between Big Sur and San Francisco since the 6th century CE. Grinding stones from this tribe still exist in Pacific Grove. The area later became part of the Mexican land grant Rancho Punta de Pinos.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Pacific Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Bay of Monterey, although he failed to identify the place according to the map and other descriptions furnished one hundred and sixty-six years before by Viscaino. As you pass over the little bridge on the road to Pacific Grove, you wdl see to the left a weather-beaten cross, which is supposed to be planted where the padres landed.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltPoint Pinos Lighthouse is builtBuiltCentrella Hotel is built
In the archivePacific Grove scenic view, ca.1890-1900 (CHS-1370)
In the archivePacific Grove fishing village near Monterey, ca.1900 (CHS-1841)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archivePacific Grove, Monterey County, California. Celebration for returning soldiers
In the archiveCalifornia [Modoc County (part) - San Mateo County (part)]
Born hereBen Jealous is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Pacific Grove’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 1,336 and 16,117 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pacific Grove’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Pacific Grove’s post office has been open since 1886. Another post office, Asilomar, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1875, according to Wikidata. Pacific Grove’s post office opened in 1886, and the census of 1890 counted 1,336 people here.
Pacific Grove is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #29 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.
7 listings: 5 buildings, 1 historic district, the Asilomar Conference Grounds, with 11 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 19 historic buildings in all.
27% of Pacific Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1956.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.
1902
1906![California [Modoc County (part) - San Mateo County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1296/101d60be5d46355ecea5-s.jpg)
1940![California [Modoc County (part) - San Mateo County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1296/d0826e1844a94ceda56b-s.jpg)
1940![California [Modoc County (part) - San Mateo County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1296/d8f31823d9c3c134c6fb-s.jpg)
1940