Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #503 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Scotts Valley was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the Hiram D. Scott House. Its Register listing is the Hiram D. Scott House. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1970.
Scotts Valley dates its founding to 1966 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1970.
More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Scotts Valley is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #503 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Scotts Valley’s 0.8 sits above most of its state (74% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 first neighbors to add old photos shape how Scotts Valley’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Scotts Valley.
Approximately ten thousand years ago there was a lake in the lowest elevation of Scotts Valley. Archeological excavations of site CA-SCR-177 (Scotts Valley Site) in 1983 and 1987 support dates for human settlement of this area as between 9,000 and 12,000 years before present (YBP). The lake drained during the Mid-Holocene warming period (4,000-5,000
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.
BuiltHiram D. Scott House is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Scotts Valley. 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 Scotts Valley.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 3,621 people in 1970 to 12,224 in 2020, 3 times over.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Scotts Valley’s Wikipedia page.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
In 1966, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1970 counted 3,621 people here.
Scotts Valley is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #503 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.
One place: the Hiram D. Scott House (listed 1977).
2% of Scotts Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (4), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2016
2016
2016
2016
