Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #141 of 847 in California. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Shasta Inn and Weed Lumber Company Boarding House. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1922 on, and the census since 1950.
The Weed post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1961. Another post office, Igerna (1888), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Weed is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #141 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 Weed’s 7.3 sits above most of its state (90% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Weed. 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 Weed.
From Wikipedia’s history of Weed.
The city of Weed derives its name from the founder of the local lumber mill and pioneer Abner Weed, who discovered that the area's strong winds were helpful in drying lumber. In 1897, Abner Weed bought the Siskiyou Lumber and Mercantile Mill and 280 acres (110 hectares) of land in what is now the city of Weed, for $400.
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.
In the archiveLog Cabin Inn, Weed, Cal
Born hereMaurice A. Preston is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereWill Sherman is born here
Born hereJoe DeLuca is born here
Born herePamela Courson is born here
In the archiveWeed Hotel and Mount Shasta postcard
In the archiveSP signals on the Siskiyou Line about a mile east of Weed, CA in October 1981
In the archiveVolcanic Legacy Scenic Byway4 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 sheet.
1928Sheet 1 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Weed’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.
Between 2,739 and 3,223 people in every census since 1950.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Weed’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Weed’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, Igerna, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
The Weed post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1961.
Weed is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #141 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.
One place: the Shasta Inn and Weed Lumber Company Boarding House (listed 1980).
19% of Weed’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (16), the Library of Congress (2), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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