Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1892.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Rodeo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Rodeo is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #318 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Rodeo’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 Rodeo’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 C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). Two sources give 1890.
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 →
What stands out about Rodeo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Rodeo is located on tracts of land that were purchased by ranchers and businessmen John and Patrick Tormey from the Ygnacio Martinez Rancho El Pinole estate in 1865 and 1867.
In partnership with the Union Stockyard Co. in 1890, Patrick Tormey (for whom the nearby town of Tormey is named) sold some of the land to them and began to lay out plans and make large investments for the stockyard facilities for a meatpacking and canning industry. Eventually, streets were graded and lots were prepared for homesteads, creating the town of Rodeo.
Passages that mention Rodeo, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Contra Costa County, California1926 · page 355Read the page →
Read the text
January 31, 1925. — The Rodeo-Vallejo Ferry Company, holder of the franchise to construct the Carquinez Straits bridge, has sold two lots and a tract of 2.71 acres at the bridgehead at Crockett to the American Toll Bridge Company for $40,500, according to a deed filed yesterday with the county recorder. The Toll Bridge Company was organized for the purpose of constructing the bridge.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Contra Costa County, California1926 · page 1039Read the page →
Read the text
In the early days the parish took in all the territory from Oakland to Port Costa but, as the population increased, various parishes were cut off and priests established in them. In 1911, when Father Porta took charge the parish included San Pablo, Pinole and Rodeo. He set about beautifying the building and grounds at Pinole and in 1918 he built the Rodeo church, the land being donated by Patrick Tormey, and the name of St. Patrick given to the church in his honor. This was the first church built in the diocese without incurring indebtedness to be paid off at a
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
Rodeo, 1890 to 1972
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.
In 1890, according to Wikidata. Rodeo’s post office opened in 1892, and the census of 1970 counted 5,356 people here.
How does Rodeo rank for history?
Rodeo 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.
How old are the homes in Rodeo?
12% of Rodeo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (6), 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.
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