Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #26 of 847 in California. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1890.
The South Pasadena post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1888. Another post office, Hermosa (1882), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, South Pasadena is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #26 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds 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 South Pasadena’s 7.7 sits above most of its state (90% of California towns have fewer) while its 20 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of South Pasadena. 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 South Pasadena.
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.
From Wikipedia’s history of South Pasadena.
The original inhabitants of the area were members of the Native American Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation (part of the Shoshone language group) that occupied the Los Angeles Basin.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention South Pasadena, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In 1878, a large and well furnished schoolhouse in a central location recpiired three teachers for its crowded rooms; while yet another in South Pasadena was conveniently arranged for fifty-six pupils. Ten years later, it was shown by official reports that " Pasadena had the best ventilated, the best lighted, and handsomest school buildings of all towns of its size in 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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archivePrize Winners, Cawston Ostrich Farm
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltHoward Longley House is built
In the archiveSeven month old chicks at an ostrich farm, ca.1900 (CHS-148)BuiltGarfield House is built
In the archiveThree of a kind, Cawston Ostrich Farm
Born hereCheryl Walker is born here
Born hereMeredith Baxter is born here
Born hereDerek Bloom is born here
Born hereKristinia DeBarge is born here3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1890Prize Winners, Cawston Ostrich Farm
c. 1895Cathedral Oakc. 1900Seven month old chicks at an ostrich farm, ca.1900 (C…
1900Cawston ostrich farm, So. Pasadena, Cal
c. 1905Orange orchard in South Pasadena, near Alhambra, ca.1…
1908Feeding Oranges, Cawston Ostrich Farm
1908Bringing in the eggs, Cawston Ostrich Farm
c. 1909Orange orchard in South Pasadena, northwest of Alhamb…
1909Lady riding ostrichNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on South Pasadena’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 623 people in 1890 to 26,943 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on South Pasadena’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
South Pasadena had its own post office from 1884 to 1907. Another post office, Hermosa, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The South Pasadena post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1888.
South Pasadena is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #26 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.
9 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Miltimore House (listed 1972, the first), 1 historic district, the South Pasadena Historic District, with 13 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 20 historic buildings in all.
33% of South Pasadena’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.9 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1953.
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), the Library of Congress (6), 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 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.
