Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #457 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Pacifica was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the San Francisco Bay Discovery Site, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 1 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1960.
Pacifica dates its founding to 1957 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1960.
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pacifica is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #457 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 Pacifica’s 0.5 sits above most of its state (71% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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.
Pacifica’s post office has been open since 1959. Four other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Pacifica. 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 Pacifica.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Pacifica.
Before European settlers arrived, Pacifica was home to two significant Ohlone Indian villages: Pruristac located at San Pedro Creek near present-day Adobe Drive, and Timigtac on Calera Creek in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveOcean Shore Railroad along Devil's Slide (cropped)
In the archiveSan Pedro Point, ca. 1924-1925
In the archiveDorothea Lange atop automobile in California
In the archiveEugene Ottonello Recovers an Enemy Rifle, 1969
Born hereJR Kratos is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1960s. 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 Pacifica’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 20,995 and 38,640 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Pacifica’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
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 1957, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Pacifica’s post office opened in 1907, and the census of 1960 counted 20,995 people here.
Pacifica is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #457 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.
Two places: the San Francisco Bay Discovery Site (listed 1968) and the Sanchez Adobe Park (1976).
3% of Pacifica’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1966.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) 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.
★ Landmark
c. 1909
Date?
2020
2010
2010
2010
2010
2006