Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns · #125 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Willows was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.
Willows dates its founding to 1886 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Willows is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #125 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 Willows’ 8.1 sits above most of its state (90% of California towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Willows’s history is told.
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.
1886Sheet 4 of 4Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Willows. 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 Willows.
From Wikipedia’s history of Willows.
The Willow post office opened in 1862; the name was changed to Willows in 1916. The current post office building, which was built in 1918, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Willows Auxiliary Field (1942–1945) was used for training World War II pilots.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveCA Lyman 296283 1917 31680
In the archiveCasa Linda Motel sign, Route 992 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Willows’ 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.
Grew from 728 people in 1880 to 6,293 in 2020, 8 times over.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Willows’ Wikipedia page.
Willows’s post office has been open since 1916. Another post office, Willow, 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).
In 1886, according to Wikidata. Willows’ post office opened in 1876, and the census of 1880 counted 728 people here.
Willows is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #125 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.
Two places: the US Post Office-Willows Main (listed 1985) and the Willows-Glenn County Airport (2023).
8% of Willows’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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