Winters’ post office opened in 1875, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #104 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Winters was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Winters post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1898.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Winters’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winters is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #104 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winters’ 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 Winters’ 17.1 sits above most of its state (94% of California towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±3.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1898 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Winters’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1888Sheet 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.
On the map
Winters on the map, 1907 to 1968
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Winters. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907Woodland sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Winters.
William Wolfskill, a Kentucky immigrant to Mexican Alta California, received a Mexican land grant for Rancho Rio de los Putos in 1842 from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. His brother, John Reid Wolfskill, started the agricultural development of the Sacramento Valley by planting orchards and vineyards on his lands. In 1849, William Wolfskill transferred half of Rancho Rio de los Putos to John Wolfskill, and transferred the rest to his brother in 1854.
The Winters post office was established in 1875. Winters incorporated in 1898. The name honors Theodore Winters, whose ranch provided half of the town's land.
Passages that mention Winters, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Yolo 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 present1913Read the page →
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As an indication of the financial and business standing of the town, there are two banks, the First National, also the Citizens' Bank of Winters. The Bank of Winters was incorporated in 1885, and in 1911 was made the First National of Winters, with a capital and surplus of $96,500. The Citizens' Bank was incorporated in 1907, capital and surplus $89,672. Both institutions have savings banks. The principal business firms and incorporations at present are the Winters Canning Co.; Notion Store (Dunnigan) ; Jacobs &
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Yolo 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 present1913 · page 55Read the page →
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TOWN OF THEODORE WINTERS The same railroad as soon as it crossed Putah creek and was fairly in Yolo county saw started the town of Winters, the day of its birth being May 22, 1875. The site of forty acres was donated to the railroad company, and D. P. Edwards added an equal amount of land to the town, and this is known as the Edwards Addition.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The illustrated atlas and history of Yolo County, Cal., containing a history of California from 1513 to 1850, a history of Yolo County from 1825 to 1880, with statistics ... portraits of well-known citizens, and the official county map1879Read the page →
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total fall of 4.78 inches, that transformed Puto and Cache creeks into foaming torrents, and caused them to overflow their banks. Puto swept away tho railroad bridge at Winters, and the young village was thoroughly irrigated. Cache Creek leaped its banks between Cacheville and Nelson's Bridge and flowed down over the country, submerged Hon. Jason Watkins' farm, and passed out toward tbe tules over the northern part of Charles Coil's
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The illustrated atlas and history of Yolo County, Cal., containing a history of California from 1513 to 1850, a history of Yolo County from 1825 to 1880, with statistics ... portraits of well-known citizens, and the official county map1879Read the page →
Read the text
Itself to his hand. A citizen of the county by the name of John C. Murphy (who was later elected Judge of Mono county; lived some four miles north of the present site of the town of Winters. He was passing with a loaded wagon througn the country, somewhere in the nelglibor hood of Cache creek, and in going through soma mud hia wagon stuck fast. He was in what miglit be termed a " fix;" but discovering a corral in which tLere were somo
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
Winters, 1875 to 1935
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.
The Winters post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1898.
How does Winters rank for history?
Winters is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #104 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 Winters?
One place: the Main Street Historic District-Winters (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Winters?
9% of Winters’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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, 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.
c. 1908
c. 1908
1936
2012
2010
