Riverbank’s post office opened in 1898, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #318 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Riverbank was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listing is the Riverbank Branch Library. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Riverbank post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1922.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Riverbank’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Riverbank is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #318 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 Riverbank’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 Riverbank’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (69% 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 C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1922.
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 Riverbank’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Riverbank was founded as a ferry crossing, and was established as a town with the coming of the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad, which was soon acquired by the Santa Fe Railroad. It is named for its location on the Stanislaus River.
In the 1850s, the Riverbank area was known as Burneyville. Major James Burney, sheriff of Mariposa, established the Burneyville Ferry over the Stanislaus River at the site of the modern bridge in Riverbank.
In 2026, a proposal to annex 1,500 acres (610 ha) was opposed by many residents.
Passages that mention Riverbank, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Stanislaus County California1921 · page 188Read the page →
Read the text
Riverbank is practically the gateway from the rich gold and timber counties of Calaveras and Tuolumne, and it is in the heart of over 400,000 acres of rich and fertile irrigated lands. The temperature here seldom drops below freezing and the rainfall averages about twelve inches during the year. There is no malaria and no alkali to handicap the prospective settler. All the land has water and as early as sixty years ago the country was a solid grain field. The transportation facilities are unsurpassed for a town of its size, no less than twent}'-six passenger and eighteen freight .trains leaving each day, and its roads and. highways connect with the great state and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Riverbank, 1898 to 1990
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Riverbank, census by census
Grew from 803 people in 1930 to 24,865 in 2020, more than tenfold.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Riverbank’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and places now gone
Riverbank’s post office has been open since 1898.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Park Sierra Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
McHenry Schoolschool
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Riverbank’s history
What year was Riverbank founded?
The Riverbank post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1922.
How does Riverbank rank for history?
Riverbank is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #318 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 Riverbank?
One place: the Riverbank Branch Library (listed 1996).
How old are the homes in Riverbank?
2% of Riverbank’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
2016