Tulare’s post office opened in 1872, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #252 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Tulare was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Its Register listing is the Tulare Union High School Auditorium and Administration Building. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Tulare post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Tulare’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tulare is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #252 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tulare’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 Tulare’s 0.3 sits above most of its state (67% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±1.0 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 Tulare’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.
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.
The Yokuts people built reed boats and fished in what was later to be called Tulare Lake in their homeland for centuries, until the invasion and settlement by the Spanish and American pioneers. When California became a state in 1850, Tulare did not yet exist as a town. Tulare was founded in 1872, by the Southern Pacific Railroad. Tule is the town's namesake.
Transportation was the first impetus behind the establishment of the town. The town burnt down and being rebuilt three times in its first fourteen years. Tulare was incorporated in 1888.
Passages that mention Tulare, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present1913 · page 104Read the page →
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"Therefore, I, the only true physician in Tulare county, California, and the only true Gospel minister in Tulare county, and the only Bible poet in Tulare county, and the only Advent i)rophet in Tulare county and the only Christian patriarch in Tulare; Therefore, in the name and service of the Great Jehovah, I offer my services to God and him only to continue my tifty years Bible task.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present1913 · page 850Read the page →
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From time to time Mr. Swall has diverted his energies from the farm to the town and he is a director of the Bank of Tulare, a direcjtor of the Tulare Co-operative Creamery Company, a stockholder of the Tulare Telephone Company and a director in the Rochdale stores of Tulare. He has been jirominent in the promotion of irrigation and was one of the originators of the Tulare Irrigation District. Since 190.') he has been one of the dix-ectors of the district. A Republican, interested in all public questions but never an o'fice
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Tulare and Kings counties, California1913 · page 850Read the page →
Read the text
From time to time Mr. Swall has diverted his energies from the farm to the town and he is a director of the Bank of Tulare, a director of the Tulare Co-operative Creamery Company, a stockholder of the Tulare Telephone Company and a director in the Rochdale stores of Tulare. He has been prominent in the promotion of irrigation and was one of the originators of the Tulare Irrigation District. Since 1903 he has been one of the directors of the district. A Republican, interested in all public questions but never an o'fice
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A memorial and biographical history of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, California1892 · page 502Read the page →
Read the text
to California. Mr. Lathrop engaged in farming in Solano County until October, 1873, when he sought a more salubrious climate and located in Tulare County. He then purchased his present resident property, and was among the first to build in the new town of Tulare; engaged in teaming across the mountains to Kernville, which for several years was very profitable. In
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
Tulare, 1872 to 1973
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Tulare post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Tulare rank for history?
Tulare is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #252 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.
What is on the National Register in Tulare?
One place: the Tulare Union High School Auditorium and Administration Building (listed 1999).
How old are the homes in Tulare?
4% of Tulare’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (15), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (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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c. 1908
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c. 1910
c. 1910
c. 1910
c. 1930
