Wheatland’s post office opened in 1866, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns · #212 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Wheatland was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Its Register listing is the Wheatland Masonic Temple. Below: maps from 1884 on and the census since 1880.
The Wheatland post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Horstville (1898), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 635 in 18802020 census: 3,712160 years
How historic is Wheatland?
C+
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Wheatland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wheatland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wheatland is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #212 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wheatland’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 Wheatland’s 2.6 sits above most of its state (82% 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 C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Wheatland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost a third of its people between 1880 and 1920, then grew 8-fold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Wheatland’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Wheatland, building by building, 1884–1909
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 year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Wheatland is located on the Rancho Johnson Mexican land grant. A post office opened in 1866. Wheatland incorporated in 1874.
Wheatland was home to a significant Chinese American community in the 1860s, but all of the Chinese American residents were driven out of town in a series of violent confrontations in February 1886.
In 1888, Edward Duplex was elected Mayor, the first black man to be elected mayor of a Western United States city. His original barbershop stands today on Main street.
Wheatland was the site of the bloody Hop Riot of 1913, considered a notable event in farm labor history that left four men dead, a Wheatland constable shot, and martial law imposed before it was over.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and old corners
Wheatland’s post office has been open since 1866. Another post office, Horstville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Wheatland
1866–today
Horstville
1898–1901
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Horstville
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Wheatland’s history
What year was Wheatland founded?
The Wheatland post office opened in 1866, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Wheatland rank for history?
Wheatland is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns, #212 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 Wheatland?
One place: the Wheatland Masonic Temple (listed 1993).
How old are the homes in Wheatland?
5% of Wheatland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1996.
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 (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 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.
2026
2013
