Potter Valley’s post office opened in 1870, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
Most of Potter Valley was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the Spotswood House. Below: maps from 1943 on.
The Potter Valley post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Pomo (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 665156 years
Founding year: the first Potter Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Potter Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1852, when William and Thomas Potter and Mose Briggs first entered what would become known as Potter Valley, they were searching for the headwaters of the Russian River from their base in Sonoma County. The Pomo people called it Ba-lo Kai. They found three Pomo villages (each about 500 people strong), the Russian headwaters, and a lush valley with wild oats "stirrup high". Eventually the Potters returned to settle there, and the valley became known by the American ranchers' name.
In addition to his famous Ridgewood Ranch, Charles S. Howard, owner of the racehorse Seabiscuit, owned a ranch in Potter Valley where he ran cattle.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Potter Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1943Pomo 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 Potter Valley.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Potter Valley
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
