Salinas’ post office opened in 1854, and 9 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #164 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Salinas was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1870.
The Salinas post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Alisal (1866), Santa Rita (1874) and Paloma (1923), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 599 in 18702020 census: 163,542172 years
How historic is Salinas?
B−
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Salinas post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Salinas’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Salinas is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #164 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Salinas’ overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Salinas ranks #249 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 Salinas’ 0.7 sits above most of its state (73% of California towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±0.9 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 Salinas’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The land on which Salinas is situated is thought to have been settled by Native Americans known as the Esselen prior to 200 AD. Between 200 and 500 AD, they were displaced by the Rumsen group of Ohlone speaking people. The Rumsen-Ohlone remained as the inhabitants of the area for approximately another 1,200 years, and in the 1700s, were the group of native inhabitants contacted and recorded by the first Spanish explorers of the Salinas area.
Passages that mention Salinas, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Monterey County, California1881 · page 108Read the page →
Read the text
Salinas is a central place for business for the whole valley, and directly on the line of the great southern railroad. The population of Salinas city, by census of 1880, is as follows: White males, 973; white females, 782; Chinese males, 97- Chinese females, 5; colored persons, 8; total, 1,865.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Monterey County, California1881 · page 107Read the page →
Read the text
office, bar and billiard room. There is also an established post-office and railroad and telegraph communication within a half hour's distance. From the verandas of the hotel and cottages are some fine views of the Salinas valley, and of the Gabilan range of mountains beyond. Surrounding and near the hotel are twenty-five neatly finished one and two-story cottages, well furnished and cheerful from each of which a beautiful outlook may be had of the
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
Salinas, 1854 to 1988
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.
The Salinas post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Salinas rank for history?
Salinas is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #164 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 Salinas?
9 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Boronda, Jose Eusebio, Adobe (listed 1973, the first). 12 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Salinas?
6% of Salinas’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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.
1918
c. 1926
1947
2013
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