Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns · #631 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Riverdale was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1917 on and the census since 1960.
The Riverdale post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 12% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Riverdale is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #631 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Riverdale’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Riverdale’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Riverdale.
The first post office at Riverdale opened in 1875. The place was originally called Liberty Settlement, but was renamed due to its proximity to the Kings River.
Riverdale has a primary school, an elementary school, and a high school.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Riverdale, cut from the printed page as they were published.
For a while he worked in the vicinity of Riverdale, and in 1910 purchased twenty acres of land two miles east of Riverdale, which he improved and paid for and where he. resided until 1919, when he sold it and bought the aforesaid residence property at Riverdale. In 1917, Mr. Miles purchased another twenty-acre tract of land, located one and a half miles west of Lanare, on Mt. Wrhitney Avenue, and he is now leveling, checking and ditching this place preparatory to planting alfalfa. In 1907 he made his first venture, in the bee business, purchasing for the purpose 500 stands of bees, but through
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
was then engaged in running a threshing machine. Since that time his home has continued to be in Kings and Fresno Counties. He saw Riverdale before the advent of its railroad, viz., the Hanford and Summit Lake Railroad, now a part of the Southern Pacific system, and has watched with keen interest the growth and development of Riverdale. Mr. McKean, as in fact also his brother A. D. (before he became a banker), and his father and grandfather, all have a talent for machinery. Charles McKean worked at threshing, running the portable steam engine and tending the threshing separator for three years,
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His associations with Mr. Burrel led him often to conjure up the historic past, once so full of early California glory. While Mr. Burrel was running the 2,000-acre ranch and lumber yard at Visalia, he was also engaged in building up and developing his 18,000 acres at Burrel and his section at Riverdale. In carrying on this work a great deal of lumber, machinery and other material had to be hauled to Riverdale and Burrel, most of which was brought from Visalia before the advent of the railroad. Great eight-horse wagons were used, and the drivers would usually stop at old Kingston, now no more, but
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of Riverdale's most progressive citizens. He gave the right of way through his ranch to the Hanford & Summit Lake Railway in 1911, and then actively engaged in getting that company to build its road through Riverdale, and to put in a switch to the Riverdale Cooperative Creamery which he had been instrumental in establishing here. As has been in part stated, he was one of the Creamery's chief promoters and stockholders, and is still its president.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Riverdale. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Riverdale.
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.
1917Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Grew from 1,012 people in 1960 to 3,477 in 2020, 3 times over.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Riverdale’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Riverdale itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Riverdale’s post office has been open since 1875.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Riverdale post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Riverdale is more historic than 12% of U.S. towns, #631 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.
0.0% of Riverdale’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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