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C+History
History · Palermo

Palermo’s post office opened in 1888, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns · #204 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Palermo was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Its Register listing is the Oroville Inn. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1970.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Palermo began

When was Palermo founded?

1888

The Palermo post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Wyandotte (1859), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,966 in 19702020 census: 5,555138 years

How historic is Palermo?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Palermo’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palermo is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #204 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 Palermo’s overall grade.
Founding era1888, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.5% of homes (±4.1) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 1.9 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 76%

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 Palermo’s 1.9 sits above most of its state (80% 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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points). 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 Palermo’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 Palermo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19123 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1970. Watch Palermo change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palermo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Palermo’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

Palermo on the map, 1912 to 1970

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

Palermo on the 1912 USGS mapPalermo on the 1952 USGS mapPalermo on the 1970 USGS map1912Palermo 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 Palermo.

The story

How Palermo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palermo.

Read it all →

The town was named after Palermo, Sicily due to its excellent climate for growing olives. The first post office was established in 1888. The area was home to a country club, two railroad stations, gold mining, a brickyard, a library, a general mercantile store, a school, and even a semi-pro baseball team. The rich clay soil attracted the planting of olive and orange orchards and a thriving zucca melon industry.

Mining magnate George Hearst purchased 700 acres in 1888 and then subdivided.

There is an annual festival held every September centered at Palermo Park to help raise funds to support the Palermo Community Council's Sheriff Substation.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palermo, 1859 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1859Post officeThe Wyandotte post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Palermo post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1915Born hereTurk Murphy is born here
  7. 1915Post officeThe Wyandotte post office closes
By decade

Palermo, decade by decade

Today5 recent
Palermo, California, Restaurant and Smoke Shop (2025)-L10001442025Palermo, California, Restaurant and Smoke Shop (2025)…Palermo, California, Raja Liquor (2025)-L10001432025Palermo, California, Raja Liquor (2025)-L1000143Palermo, California, Post Office (2025)-L10001402025Palermo, California, Post Office (2025)-L1000140Palermo, California, Fire Station (2025)-L10001382025Palermo, California, Fire Station (2025)-L1000138Palermo, California, Bus Stop (2025)-L10001482025Palermo, California, Bus Stop (2025)-L1000148
On the National Register

1 historic place in Palermo

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
1990
Oroville Inn
Oroville Inn
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Spanish Colonial Revival1
Oroville InnSpanish Colonial Revival

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

People over time

Palermo, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,000198020002020Peak: 5,720

Between 1,966 and 5,720 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Palermo’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Palermo’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Wyandotte, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Wyandotte
1859–1915
Palermo
1888–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Vista RoblesWyandotte

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.

Oroville EastIts storyDSouth OrovilleIts storyCOroville5 historic placesB+BangorIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Palermo’s history

What year was Palermo founded?

The Palermo post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Palermo rank for history?

Palermo is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns, #204 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 Palermo?

One place: the Oroville Inn (listed 1990).

How old are the homes in Palermo?

6% of Palermo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 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).

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.