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C−History
History · Portola

Portola’s post office opened in 1909, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1950.

1909first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Portola’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Portola began

When was Portola founded?

1909

The Portola post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1946.

First census: 2,261 in 19502020 census: 2,100117 years

How historic is Portola?

C−

More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Portola post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1946.
History grade

What drives Portola’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portola is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Portola’s overall grade.
Founding era1909, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194015.8% of homes (±7.7) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 24%
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 Portola’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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1946.

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 Portola’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Portola’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Portola’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewNeat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Portola, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Portola yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Portola ( por-TOH-lə) is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,100 at the 2020 census, down from 2,104 at the 2010 census. Portola is located on the Middle Fork of the Feather River and was named after Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolá, although he did not explore this area. Portola is a crew change site on the Western Pacific Railroad (now Union Pacific Railroad) Feather River Route over the Sierra Nevada. The city is also home to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum (formerly Portola Railroad Museum), one of the largest railroad museums in the Western United States. The museum is famous for its Run A Locomotive program, where the publ…

Its first post office opened in 1909. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,104 in 2010, 2,100 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Portola, 1909 to 1983

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Portola post office opens
  3. 1946Born hereRichard Poe is born here
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1983In the archiveNeat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos
By decade

Portola, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s2 items
Neat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos1983Neat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 PhotosNeat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos1983Neat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos
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
Date unknown1 to date
Portola Regional CourthouseDate?Portola Regional Courthouse
Today7 recent
Union Pacific 3652 probably near Portola, CA in November 19842016Union Pacific 3652 probably near Portola, CA in Novem…Golden grass and dark green trees (Unsplash)2016Golden grass and dark green trees (Unsplash)Glass window on building. (Unsplash)2016Glass window on building. (Unsplash)A Strange Steam Engine in Portola - 2 Photos2016A Strange Steam Engine in Portola - 2 PhotosA Strange Steam Engine in Portola - 2 Photos2016A Strange Steam Engine in Portola - 2 PhotosA Chase in Feather River Canyon2016A Chase in Feather River Canyon2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook
On the map

Portola on the map, 1950 to 1994

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

Portola on the 1950 USGS mapPortola on the 1972 USGS mapPortola on the 1994 USGS map1950Portola sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Portola.

Every building

Portola, building by building, 1912

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 sheet.

Portola fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Neat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos
Retake this viewNeat Power Consist, WP and UP - 2 Photos, 1983

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Portola’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Portola, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001960198020002020Peak: 2,261

Between 1,625 and 2,261 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

DellekerIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIron HorseIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLake DavisIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Portola’s history

What year was Portola founded?

The Portola post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1946.

How does Portola rank for history?

Portola is more historic than 24% 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 Portola?

16% of Portola’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1967.

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 (10), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.