Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Locke Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and four historic districts with 120 buildings between them. Below: old-book passages.
The Walnut Grove post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Locke (1916), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
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 Walnut Grove’s history is told.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Walnut Grove.
Established in 1851 by John W. Sharp, Walnut Grove is one of the earliest Chinese American settlements along the Sacramento River. Many of the original settlers were forced to Walnut Grove, after their previous homes and towns were burnt down. The city was rented to the Chinese by John Wesley Sharp.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Walnut Grove, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Sutter island has been under process of reclamation for many years, and is now largely under cultivation. Walnut Grove was settled by John W. Sharp in the fall of 1851, and there has been a postoffice there since 1855 or 1856. It is situated at the junction of Georgiana Slough with the Sacramento river. It has a wharf at which the steamers stop going both ways, also a store, schoolhouse, a hotel and a hall. It is a point from which much produce is shipped. The growing of asparagus and celery has expanded very fast within the past
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Sutter island has been under process of reclamation for tnany years, and is now largely under cultivation. Walnut Grove was settled by John W. Sharp in the fall of 1851, and there has been a postoffice there since 1855 or 1856. It is situated at the junction of Georgiana Slough with the Sacramento river. It has a wharf at which the steamers stop going both ways, also a store, schoolhouse, a hotel and a hall. It is a point from which much produce is shipped. The growing of asparagus and celery has expanded very fast within the past
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Grove. He also conducted the first hotel there, and an old document dated 1859 mentions this as the first polling place in the town. He built and ran the first store in Walnut Grove, erected the first residence, did the first farming in the vicinity, and ran the first ferry-boat across the Georgiana Slough to Andrus Island. Through Mr. Sharp's efforts, the post-office was established at Walnut Grove; and he was ap-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Mr. Brown is the founder of the Bank of Alexander Brown, of Walnut Grove, of which he has been president since its beginning, in 1914, when he erected the bank building; and in 1915 he purchased the business block in which he conducted his general merchandise business. The new Walnut Grove Hotel was one year in building, and in 1918 it was finished at a cost of $120,000, for building and furniture. It is
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereMike Honda is born hereWriters, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Walnut Grove’s post office has been open since 1856. Another post office, Locke, 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).
The Walnut Grove post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
7 listings: 3 buildings and 4 historic districts with 120 contributing buildings. 124 historic buildings in all.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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