Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Weldon was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 2000.
The Weldon post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Weldon is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Weldon’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 Weldon’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Weldon.
The Weldon post office opened in 1871. The name honors William B. Weldon, a cattle rancher. Camp Leonard, a temporary army camp, was established at Weldon in 1863.
The 1941 western film Doomed Caravan was partially filmed in Weldon. Other movies filmed here include Borderland (1937), In Old Mexico (1938) and Hidden Gold (1940).
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Weldon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Coming to Kern county in 1872, Mr. True worked at the blacksmith trade in Glennville until 1878, when he started the first blacksmith shop in Weldon, continuing in business there for five years. He then purchased his present place of one hundred and sixty acres three miles east of Weldon and has improved the place so it is under irrigation, and he is engaged in raising alfalfa, grain, cattle and hogs and meeting with merited success.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Coming to Kern county in 1872, Mr. True worked at the blacksmith trade in Glennville until 1878, when he started the first blacksmith shop in Weldon, continuing in business there for five years. He then purchased his present place of one hundred and sixty acres three miles east of Weldon and has improved the place so it is under irrigation, and he is engaged in raising alfalfa, grain, cattle and hogs and meeting with merited success.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Purchasing the store in Kernville, which later assumed such large proportions, he successfully conducted it, and later séeing an opportunity opened South Fork he became owner of them, continuing the. mercantile business at Weldon in connection with his store in Kernville. At the same time he began farming operations on his Weldon ranch. As business increased he bought other farms on the South Fork and became engaged extensively in raising cattle, horses, sheep and hogs. Large quantities of wheat were raised on his land, and to achieve the best marketing results he built a flour
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Weldon At Weldon, ten miles above Isabella on the South Fork, the A. Brown Company has a store and keeps the postoffice. Onyx Onyx, four miles above Weldon, boasts only a posroffice in a private residence.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Weldon. 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 Weldon.
Between 2,303 and 2,642 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Weldon’s Wikipedia page.
Weldon’s post office has been open since 1871.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Weldon post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Weldon is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns. 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.
2% of Weldon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (3), Wikipedia, 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 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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