More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #409 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Selma was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1888 on and the census since 1890.
The Selma post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Garfield (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,150 in 18902020 census: 24,674146 years
How historic is Selma?
C−
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Selma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Selma’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Selma is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #409 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Selma’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 Selma’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 (±1.6 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 Selma’s 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.
Selma owes its beginnings as the second city in Fresno County to farming and to the Southern Pacific Railroad, which began in the 1870s as a branch line of the Central Pacific Railroad. The route of the Southern Pacific through California's Central Valley gave rise to a string of small towns between Sacramento and Bakersfield. Selma was among them.
Passages that mention Selma, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1919 · page 1959Read the page →
Read the text
For five years after his marriage, Mr. Christensen farmed near Selma, and in 1914 he came into town and entered the Selma Post Office under Walter Staley, the former postmaster. In course of time, he took the civil service examination for second-class postal service; and having passed very creditably, he was commissioned postmaster at Selma, on April 8, 1918, becoming thereby a successor to his chief, Walter Staley. The Selma Post Office has been for sometime an important one in the second class; but especially under Mr. Christensen's able administration, it has come to handle
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1919 · page 1775Read the page →
Read the text
Despite the $50,000 put into sundry improvements, $125,000 for schools, and large sums for the city water and parks, the city has a very small outstanding debt. Selma has an assessed valuation of over $1,000,000, and there are only $30,000 outstanding in bonded debts. In June, 1917, the First National Bank purchased the City of Selma's park bonds, amounting to $10,700, at par.
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
Selma, 1880 to 1984
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Selma post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Selma rank for history?
Selma is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #409 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 Selma?
5% of Selma’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 1983.
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, 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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