More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #576 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Pine Grove was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1948 on.
Founding year: the first Pine Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Pine Grove’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pine Grove is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #576 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Pine Grove’s overall grade.
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 Pine Grove’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 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 Pine Grove’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pine Grove yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Pine Grove is a census-designated place in Amador County, California, United States. It lies at an elevation of 2513 feet (766 m). The population was 2,891 at the 2020 census. The current boundaries of Pine Grove include the former mining towns of Clinton and Irishtown. The town also is home to Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park. A post office opened in Pine Grove in 1856.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,219 to 2,891 (+30%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
The Pine Grove post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Pine Grove rank for history?
Pine Grove is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #576 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.
How old are the homes in Pine Grove?
0.8% of Pine Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 Library of Congress (1), 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.
Date?
2024
2021
2021
2012
2012
