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History · Valley Springs

Valley Springs’ post office opened in 1872

Most of Valley Springs was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. Below: maps from 1944 on and the census since 2000.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Photo: Windsweptliberty · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Valley Springs began

When was Valley Springs founded?

1872

The Valley Springs post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,560 in 20002020 census: 3,779154 years
Founding year: the first Valley Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Valley Springs’ 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 Valley Springs are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Valley Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Valley Springs’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Valley Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Valley Springs.

Read it all →

The earliest inhabitants of Valley Springs were Native Americans, specifically the Mi-Wuk and Yokuts tribes. Evidence of their presence includes grinding rocks found in the area. These tribes gathered acorns for trade and food before returning to their homes in the spring. The Mi-Wuk were later driven further into the hills due to the influx of gold miners.

In 1849, the first saloon and store opened in the Valley Springs region. This development was followed by the establishment of small farms and large ranches to provide food for settlers. Stage stops emerged along what is now Highway 26, and lodging developed. Additionally, what is now Highway 12 linked roads to the surrounding areas.

ChaptersEarly Native American inhabitantsSettler constructionArrival of the railroadsDevelopment and challengesIndustrial expansionDecline of rail serviceEconomic and population changesPostal services

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Valley Springs, 1872 to 1944

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Valley Springs post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Born hereElmer Pence is born here
  5. 1944On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Valley Springs, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Life Jacket Trade-in Day 20132013Life Jacket Trade-in Day 2013A river full of education2011A river full of educationA river full of education2011A river full of educationA river full of education2011A river full of educationA river full of education2011A river full of educationA river full of education2011A river full of education
On the map

Valley Springs on the map, 1944 to 1962

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

Valley Springs on the 1944 USGS mapValley Springs on the 1956 USGS mapValley Springs on the 1962 USGS map1944Valley Springs 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 Valley Springs.

People over time

Valley Springs, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00020002020Peak: 3,779

Between 2,560 and 3,779 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Valley Springs’ Wikipedia page.

Questions about Valley Springs’ history

What year was Valley Springs founded?

The Valley Springs post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.