Wasco’s post office opened in 1900, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns · #388 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Wasco was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Wasco Union High School Auditorium. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1913 on, and the census since 1950.
The Wasco post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1945. Another post office, Deweyville (1899), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 5,592 in 19502020 census: 27,047126 years
How historic is Wasco?
C−
More historic than 25% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Wasco post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1945.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wasco’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wasco is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #388 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wasco’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 Wasco’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (68% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1945.
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 Wasco’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The name Dewey was in honor of Admiral George Dewey, a hero of the Spanish–American War. The Deweyville post office opened in 1899, and changed its name to Wasco in 1907.
The origin of the name Wasco is subject of two different theories: (1) That it was coined from Western American Sugar Company; and (2) that it was named by a resident from Wasco County, Oregon.
Wasco is the site of the Fourth Home Extension Colony, founded in 1907 by the American Home Extension Association.
Passages that mention Wasco, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Kern County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1914 · page 185Read the page →
Read the text
The discovery of the Lost Hills oil field in the summer oi 1910 and the excitement that developed the following winter gave a great boost to Wasco as a trading point. All the supplies for the new field were unloaded frtmi the Santa Fe railroad at Wasco and hauled thence about twenty-one miles by dirt road to where the wonderfully shallow wells were being brought in. I'eanis of eight, ten, twelve and sixteen horses speedily wore out the roads with their loads of derrick timbers and rig irons, and made exceedingly rough sledding for the whirring strings of automobiles that carried their loads of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Kern County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present1914 · page 186Read the page →
Read the text
Prior to the founding of Wasco colony the Santa Fe railroad maintained a station at that place under the name of Dewey. The depot, a store, a blacksmith shop and two saloons composed the town at the time the colony was launched.
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
Wasco, 1899 to 1983
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds
Wasco’s post office has been open since 1900. Another post office, Deweyville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Deweyville
1899–1900
Wasco
1900–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
First Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchNorth Kern HospitalhospitalWasco Union Grammar Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Wasco
Wasco
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Wasco’s history
What year was Wasco founded?
The Wasco post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1945.
How does Wasco rank for history?
Wasco is more historic than 25% of U.S. towns, #388 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 Wasco?
One place: the Wasco Union High School Auditorium (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Wasco?
5% of Wasco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (2), 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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