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B−History
History · Shasta

Shasta’s post office opened in 1851, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Shasta was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 16 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers and maps from 1944 on.

1851first post office
1on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Shasta’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Shasta began

When was Shasta founded?

1851

The Shasta post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,043175 years

How historic is Shasta?

B−

More historic than 55% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Shasta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Shasta’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shasta is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. 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 Shasta’s overall grade.
Founding era1851, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.4% of homes (±3.6) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 16 historic buildings, 115 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 55%
NewerOlder

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 Shasta’s 115 sits above most of its state (99% of California towns have fewer) while its 16 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.6 points). 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 Shasta’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1855–1940.Mystery photos5 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
★ What stands out · By decade

Shasta, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1890s5 items
Shasta-callaghan-block1855Shasta-callaghan-blockMap From California to New Mexico1867Map From California to New MexicoMapMount Shasta, California1895Mount Shasta, CaliforniaMt. Shasta, California1899Mt. Shasta, CaliforniaMt. Shasta, California1899Mt. Shasta, California
1900s1 item
Mount Shasta, California1900Mount Shasta, California
1910s–1930snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1940s1 item
Shasta Dam under construction1940Shasta Dam under construction
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown5 to date
Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, Photographer Mar. 9, 1934 GENERAL VIEW - Bystle House, Trinity and…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, …Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, Photographer Mar. 9, 1934 GENERAL VIEW - Foster HouseDate?Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, …Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, Photographer Mar. 9, 1934 VIEW FROM NORTH-EAST (FRONT) - Dr. Shurt…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, …Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, Photographer Mar. 9, 1934 VIEW FROM NORTH-EAST (FRONT) - Dr. Shurt…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, …Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, Photographer Mar. 9, 1934 VIEW FROM NORTH-WEST (FRONT) - Dr. Shurt…Date?Historic American Buildings Survey Roger Sturtevant, …
Help out

Finish Shasta’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewShasta-callaghan-block: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Shasta came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Shasta.

Read it all →

A bustling town of the 1850s through the 1880s, Shasta was for its time, the largest settlement in Shasta County and the surrounding area. Sometimes referred to today as "Old Shasta", the town was an important commercial center and a major shipping point for mule trains and stagecoaches serving the mining towns and later settlements of northern California. The discovery of gold near Shasta in 1848 brought California Gold Rush-era Forty-Niners up the Siskiyou Trail in search of riches - most passed through Shasta, and continued to use it as base of operations. Those that stayed worked the placer gold diggings of nearby, short-lived camps like Horsetown, Buckeye, and Whiskeytown, California.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Shasta, 1851 to 1961

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1851Post officeThe Shasta post office opens
  3. 1855In the archiveShasta-callaghan-block
  4. 1867In the archiveMap From California to New Mexico
  5. 1881Born hereScott Leary is born here
  6. 1892Born hereEarl Charles Behrens is born here
  7. 1895In the archiveMount Shasta, California
  8. 20th century
  9. 1900In the archiveMount Shasta, California
  10. 1940In the archiveShasta Dam under construction
  11. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1961Born hereJim Hanks is born here
On the map

Shasta on the map, 1944 to 1969

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Shasta. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Shasta on the 1944 USGS mapShasta on the 1957 USGS mapShasta on the 1969 USGS map1944Redding sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Shasta.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Shasta-callaghan-block
Retake this viewShasta-callaghan-block, 1855

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Shasta’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 16 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
16
each building in a district counts
first listed
1971
Shasta State Historic Park
Shasta State Historic Park
Districts
Shasta State Historic ParkDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Shasta

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Jim HanksAmerican actor · b. 1961
Scott LearyAmerican swimmer · b. 1881
Earl Charles BehrensAmerican political editor · b. 1892
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Shasta’s post office has been open since 1851.

Gone or out of use
Black Diamond MinemineBracket MinemineBuena Vista MinemineCorrine MinemineDel Oro MinemineGold Leaf MinemineGolden Chariot MinemineHope So MinemineJefferson MinemineJubilee MinemineMountain Top MinemineOld Spanish MinemineOro Grande MinemineSaddle Pocket MinemineSalee MinemineSalt Creek MinemineWest Point Minemine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Shasta
Shasta City UnionShasta Masonic

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

CentervilleIts storyD−Redding5 historic placesC+KeswickIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Shasta’s history

What year was Shasta founded?

The Shasta post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Shasta rank for history?

Shasta is more historic than 55% of U.S. towns. 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 Shasta?

One place: the Shasta State Historic Park (listed 1971).

How old are the homes in Shasta?

5% of Shasta’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1987.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (7), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.