History · Rio Vista

Rio Vista’s post office opened in 1858, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #216 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Rio Vista was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2002. Its Register listing is the Delta King. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1870.

1858first post office

1on the National Register

5%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

2famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Rio Vista’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Rio Vista began

When was Rio Vista founded?

1858

The Rio Vista post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 319 in 18702020 census: 10,005168 years

How historic is Rio Vista?

C⁺

More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Rio Vista post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Rio Vista’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rio Vista is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #216 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rio Vista’s overall grade.

Founding era1858, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19405.4% of homes (±2.7) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C National Register1 listing, 1.0 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 41%

NewerOlder

California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 75%

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 Rio Vista’s 1.0 sits above most of its state (76% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 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 Rio Vista’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19105 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1993. Watch Rio Vista change.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rio Vista’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewRio Vista flooding 1997: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

On the map

Rio Vista on the map, 1910 to 1993

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

1910Rio Vista sheet · 1:31,680

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

The story

How Rio Vista came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Rio Vista.

Read it all →

The present location of Rio Vista town center is several miles south of the original settlement. Colonel Nathan H. Davis founded "Brazos del Rio" near the entrance of Cache Slough at the Sacramento River, on the Rancho Los Ulpinos Mexican land grant, in 1858. The settlement changed its name to "Vista del Rio" (View of the river), and a third time within a year, to "Rio Vista" on the suggestion of the wife of the postmaster, Mrs Charles A. Kirkpatrick in 1858. The city's name combined the Spanish words for "river" and "view". The town was known as New Rio Vista briefly after it moved to its present location on higher ground following a series of floods in 1861 and 1862. The postal authorities established office in 1858. The community was officially incorporated as Rio Vista on December 30, 1893. During the internment of Japanese Americans, most of Rio Vista's Japanese citizens were sent…

ChaptersMedia Industry United States Army Reserve Center Humphrey the humpback whale Flannery land purchases

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Rio Vista, 1858 to 1997

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

19th century
1858Post officeThe Rio Vista post office opens
1871Born hereFrancisco Nunes da Rosa is born here
20th century
1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1922Born hereBill Wight is born here
1997In the archiveRio Vista flooding 1997

By decade

Rio Vista, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1990s1 item

1997Rio Vista flooding 1997

Today23 recent

2025Rio Vista - August 2025 - Sarah Stierch 01

2025Abel Chevrolet

2024Aerial view of Rio Vista, California, September 2024

Aerial view of Rio Vista, California, September 2024 (cropped)

2024Aerial view of Rio Vista, California, September 2024 …

2018Wind sculptures on Rio Vista waterfront

2018The Sacramento River in

2018Sacramento River in

2012Neon sign for Foster's Bighorn Bar and Restaurant

A wind farm off California Rt. 12 near Rio Vista in Solano County, California

2012A wind farm off California Rt. 12 near Rio Vista in S…

2012Foster's Bighorn Bar and Restaurant

Every building

Rio Vista, building by building, 1896–1908

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 year, then a sheet.

Rio Vista fire insurance map, 1896, sheet 1

1896Sheet 1 of 3

Edition

Sheets

+2 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Rio Vista

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1978

Delta King

Structures

Delta KingStructure

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Rio Vista, census by census

Grew from 319 people in 1870 to 10,005 in 2020, more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Rio Vista

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Bill WightAmerican baseball player · b. 1922

Francisco Nunes da RosaPortuguese writer · b. 1871

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Rio Vista’s post office has been open since 1858.

Hamlets and corners on the map

Newtown

2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Rio Vista

Rio Vista CatholicRio Vista Masonic and IOOF

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Rio Vista’s history

What year was Rio Vista founded?

The Rio Vista post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Rio Vista rank for history?

Rio Vista is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #216 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.

What is on the National Register in Rio Vista?

One place: the Delta King (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in Rio Vista?

5% of Rio Vista’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 2002.

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 (8), the Library of Congress (16), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.

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