Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #146 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Riverside was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. 24 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and a historic district with 10 buildings. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1890.
Riverside dates its founding to 1870 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Riverside is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #146 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Riverside ranks #233 on History.
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 Riverside’s 1.1 sits above most of its state (77% of California towns have fewer) while its 36 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Riverside’s post office has been open since 1871. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Riverside.
In the late 18th century and the early 19th century, the area was inhabited by Cahuilla and the Serrano people. Californios such as Bernardo Yorba and Juan Bandini established ranches during the first half of the 19th century.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveMagnolia Avenue, Riverside, CaliforniaBuiltMission Inn is builtBuiltHarada House is built
In the archivePalm Avenue, Riverside, CalBuiltHeritage House is built
In the archiveMagnolia Ave., Riverside, California, ca. 1888
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltSan Pedro, Los Angeles, & Salt Lake RR Depot is built
Born hereBarry Bonds is born here
Born hereReggie Miller is born here
Born hereAmy Lee is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Riverside. 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 Riverside.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Riverside’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 4,683 people in 1890 to 314,998 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Riverside’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1870, according to Wikidata. Riverside’s post office opened in 1871, and the census of 1890 counted 4,683 people here.
Riverside is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #146 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.
24 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 20 buildings, among them the Mission Inn (a National Historic Landmark since 1977), 1 historic district, the Mission Court Bungalows, with 10 contributing buildings, and 3 sites. 36 historic buildings in all.
6% of Riverside’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (24), 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.
1870–1925
1870–1925
1870–1925
1870–1925
c. 1888
1898
