Most of Richgrove was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1970.
Founding year: the first Richgrove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Richgrove’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richgrove is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Richgrove’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 Richgrove’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 (±3.7 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 Richgrove’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 Richgrove yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Richgrove is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 2,358 at the 2020 United States census, down from 2,882 at the 2010 census.
Its first post office opened in 1911. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,882 to 2,358 (-18%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Richgrove, 1911 to 1940
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Richgrove had its own post office from 1911 to 1940.
Richgrove
1911–1940
19101970today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Richgrove’s history
What year was Richgrove founded?
The Richgrove post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Richgrove rank for history?
Richgrove is more historic than 11% 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 Richgrove?
3% of Richgrove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 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.
