More historic than 9% of U.S. towns · #703 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Stanton was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1920.
The Stanton post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1956. Another post office, Clair (1895), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 695 in 19202020 census: 37,962114 years
How historic is Stanton?
D
More historic than 9% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Stanton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1956.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stanton’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stanton is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #703 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stanton’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 Stanton’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 still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1956.
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 Stanton’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Stanton’s post office has been open since 1912. Another post office, Clair, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Clair
1895–1900
Stanton
1912–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beach West Mobile Home EstatesClairFernwood Mobile Home ParkKatella Mobile Home EstatesLos Alamitos JunctionParque Pacifico Mobile Home ParkRancho Thirty-nine Mobile Home ParkVilla Capri Mobile Home Park
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
Stanton on the map, 1896 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Stanton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1896Anaheim 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 Stanton.
During the Spanish colonial period, northern Orange County along with much of the LA Basin had been granted to Manuel Nieto in 1784 under the Rancho Los Nietos. After Nietos' death, his heirs partitioned the land into five smaller ranchos under Mexican governance. The current boundaries of the city roughly lies over two of five descending ranchos of Rancho Los Alamitos and Rancho Los Coyotes.
On November 4, 1905, the Los Angeles Interurban Railway started service on the Santa Ana Line. It ran along an almost perfectly straight line between Watts and Santa Ana. Access to transportation allowed the population of the rural area to grow. This area is now Stanton and West Anaheim.
Passages that mention Stanton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 82Read the page →
Read the text
CHAPTER XII THE CITY OF STANTON The city of Stanton is located centrally in the agricultural section in the western part of Orange County, southwest of Anaheim and northwest of Garden Grove. It was named after Hon. Phil. A. Stanton of Los Angeles, who has large holdings of land in that vicinity. The city was incorporated on JNIarch 29, 1911 ; the principal purpose of the incorporation was to prevent Anaheim's sewer farm being located in that community. The area of the territory first included
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 687Read the page →
Read the text
Mr. Baker has always been interested in every movement that had as its aim the upbuilding and development of the best interests of his community, and took an active part in the incorporation of the town of Stanton, and in the educational affairs of his district. He was the prime mover in having the Magnolia School district organized in 1895, and gave the name to the school, and he was a member of the first board of trustees. His ranch is near the school on Magnolia Avenue, and therefore he was more deeply interested in the maintaining of a good school, which now has an enrollment of almost 100 scholars.
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
Stanton, 1895 to 1912
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Stanton post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1956.
How does Stanton rank for history?
Stanton is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #703 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 Stanton?
2% of Stanton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.
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