The story
Read it all →How Penn Valley came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Penn Valley.
The community may be named for Madame Penn, the original owner of the town site.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
D−History
History · Penn Valley
Half of Penn Valley’s homes were built after 1975
More historic than 5% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Penn Valley was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1980.
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Quick answers
About Penn Valley’s history
How historic is Penn Valley?
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What drives the grade ↓More historic than 5% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
History grade
What drives Penn Valley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Penn Valley is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Penn Valley’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±1.9) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%D−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 5%
NewerOlder
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 Penn Valley’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.9 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Penn Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Penn Valley’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Penn Valley’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Penn Valley, 1949 to 1994
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Penn Valley, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1970s1 item
1980s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
2012
2012
2009
2008
2008
2008
2008On the map
Penn Valley on the map, 1949 to 1995
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Penn Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1949Rough And Ready sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Penn Valley.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewPenn Valley Redevelopment Project Phases, 1971
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Penn Valley’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Penn Valley, census by census
Between 1,032 and 1,621 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Penn Valley’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and burying grounds
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Casey Corner
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Penn Valley
Indian SpringsPenn Valley
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Penn Valley’s history
How does Penn Valley rank for history?
Penn Valley is more historic than 5% of U.S. towns. 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 Penn Valley?
0.0% of Penn Valley’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 1975.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.