Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #115 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Yountville was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1942 on, and the census since 1880.
The Yountville post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Sebastopol (1856) and Veterans Home (1892), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yountville is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #115 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 Yountville’s 29.9 sits above most of its state (96% of California towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 Yountville’s history is told.
Yountville’s post office has been open since 1867. Two other post offices 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).
The 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.
From Wikipedia’s history of Yountville.
A town in nearby Sonoma County had already claimed that name, and thus the town was renamed in 1867 to honor George C. Yount, following his death. Yount was considered responsible for establishing the first vineyard in the Napa Valley.
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.
BuiltJohn Lee Webber House is built
Born hereEmmett Seawell is born here
Born hereEdward D. Vandeleur is born hereBuiltFrench Laundry is built
In the archiveCalifornia
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2008Yountville, California - panoramio - UncleVinny (18)
2008Yountville, California - panoramio - UncleVinny (16)
2008Yountville, California - panoramio - UncleVinny (15)
2008Yountville, California - panoramio - UncleVinny (14)
2008Yountville, California - panoramio - UncleVinny (13)
2008French Laundry Restaurant
2008Domaine Chandon
2008Bouchon Bakery
2007Dominus Winery Napa Valley
2007California, Yountville, April 2007
2006FEMA - 22365 - Photograph by Adam Dubrowa taken on 02…
2005Yountville station
2005Yountville residential street
2005Yountville fork in road 2
2005Yountville fork in road 1Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Yountville. 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 Yountville.
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 Yountville’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 256 people in 1880 to 3,436 in 2020, more than tenfold.
8 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Yountville’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Yountville post office opened in 1867, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Yountville is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #115 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.
6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the French Laundry (listed 1978, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
8% of Yountville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±21.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
