Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns · #346 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Upland was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1910.
The Upland post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, North Ontario (1887), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 29% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Upland is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #346 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold 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 Upland’s 0.5 sits above most of its state (70% of California towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Upland’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Upland. 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 Upland.
Upland’s post office has been open since 1902. Another post office, North Ontario, 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).
From Wikipedia’s history of Upland.
Upland is located at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains on an east–west trail that was used by the Native Americans and Spanish missionaries, part of what is now known as the Old Spanish Trail. To the west, the trail led to the San Gabriel Mission, which Spanish Missionaries built in 1771.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCitrus groves in north Ontario, ca.1900-1910 (CHS-1661)
BuiltUpland Public Library is built
Born hereEddie Lawson is born here
Born hereLitefoot is born here
Born hereBrenda Martinez is born here
Born hereDanielle Chuchran is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No 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 Upland’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 2,384 people in 1910 to 79,040 in 2020, more than tenfold.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Upland’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Upland post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Upland is more historic than 29% of U.S. towns, #346 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Old San Antonio Hospital (listed 1980, the first), and 1 structure.
5% of Upland’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 1978.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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) 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.
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