Fallon’s post office opened in 1896, and 9 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #2 of 42 in Nevada. What drives it
Most of Fallon was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. 9 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 66 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Fallon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Fallon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fallon is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #2 of 42 in Nevada. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fallon’s overall grade.
Few Nevada towns list much on the Register (a typical Nevada town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Fallon’s 84.5 sits above most of its state (92% of Nevada towns have fewer) while its 80 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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 (±3.7 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 Fallon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Fallon, building by building, 1905–1912
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.
1905Sheet 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.
The community was first populated during the California Gold Rush, because multiple would-be Forty-niners stopped after crossing the Carson River.
The town and post office were established on July 24, 1896, in a little shack belonging to Michael Fallon and Eliza Fallon, who operated a ranch at the site. Shortly afterwards, Jim Richards later operated a store near the post office.
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 Fallon post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fallon rank for history?
Fallon is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #2 of 42 in Nevada. 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 Fallon?
9 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Oats Park Grammar School (listed 1990, the first), and 1 historic district, the Maine Street Historic District, with 66 contributing buildings. 80 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Fallon?
8% of Fallon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 0.3% for a Nevada town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (6), the National Register of Historic Places (9), 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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