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CHistory
History · Terra Bella

Terra Bella’s post office opened in 1891, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1970.

1891first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Terra Bella began

When was Terra Bella founded?

1891

The Terra Bella post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,037 in 19702020 census: 2,910135 years

How historic is Terra Bella?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Terra Bella post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Terra Bella’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Terra Bella is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Terra Bella’s overall grade.
Founding era1891, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.7% of homes (±11.2) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
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 Terra Bella’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 is a Census survey estimate (±11.2 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 Terra Bella’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Terra Bella are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Terra Bella’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Terra Bella’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Terra Bella, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Terra Bella yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Terra Bella is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 2,910 at the 2020 census, down from 3,310 at the 2010 census.

Its first post office opened in 1891. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,310 to 2,910 (-12%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Terra Bella, 1891 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Terra Bella post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1901Born hereSherrill Halbert is born here
  5. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Terra Bella on the map, 1929 to 1969

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

Terra Bella on the 1929 USGS mapTerra Bella on the 1942 USGS mapTerra Bella on the 1952 USGS mapTerra Bella on the 1969 USGS map1929Ducor sheet · 1:31,680

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

Every building

Terra Bella, building by building, 1912

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 sheet.

Terra Bella fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Terra Bella, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,500198020002020Peak: 3,466

Between 1,037 and 3,466 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Terra Bella’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Terra Bella’s history

What year was Terra Bella founded?

The Terra Bella post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Terra Bella rank for history?

Terra Bella is more historic than 33% 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.

How old are the homes in Terra Bella?

13% of Terra Bella’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.