The story
Read it all →How Yolo came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Yolo.
Yolo was formerly known as "Cacheville", "Cochran's Crossing", "Cochranes Crossing", "Hutton's Ranch", and "Travelers Home".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · Yolo
Yolo’s post office opened in 1853, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
Most of Yolo was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Yolo Branch Library. Below: maps from 1889 on and old-book passages.
1853first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Yolo began
When was Yolo founded?
1853
The Yolo post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 425173 years
Founding year: the first Yolo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Yolo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Yolo’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Yolo’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Every building
Yolo, building by building, 1889–1912
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.
1889Sheet 1 of 1Edition
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
Yolo on the map, 1907 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Yolo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1907Woodland sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Yolo.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Yolo in 1913
Passages that mention Yolo, 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 present1913 · page 662Read the page →
Read the text
For thirty years or more Mr. Fisher has lived in Yolo county, where in 1891 he bought ten acres adjacent to the village of Yolo and included within the limits of the town. Here he built a house and a barn and made other improvements. With the exception of engaging in the butcher business and carrying on a meat market at Yolo for two years, he has earned his livelihood from his little farm, where for some years he has kept several fine cows and has made a specialty of dairying. At present he also engages in the
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 92Read the page →
Read the text
promise of the materialization of the hopes of its pioneer residents than at any period since the railroad company dashed those hopes by establishing its works in Sacramento. The advent of the Northern Electric Railroad Company in Yolo county is bound to do much for Washington. In addition to the immense bridge just completed by the Southern Pacific Company, there is also a bridge of almost equal proportion and cost about completed by the electric road a short distance down the river. This bridge will have an entrance
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
Yolo, 1853 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Yolo, decade by decade
Today1 recent
2012On the National Register
1 historic place in Yolo
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1990
Yolo Branch Library
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Bungalow/Craftsman1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Questions about Yolo’s history
What year was Yolo founded?
The Yolo post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Yolo?
One place: the Yolo Branch Library (listed 1990).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.