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History · Alta Sierra

13% of Alta Sierra’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1920 on.

0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Alta Sierra’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Alta Sierra are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19204 editions of the USGS map, 1920 to 1985. Watch Alta Sierra change.Old housesHalf of Alta Sierra’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alta Sierra’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alta Sierra’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Alta Sierra on the map, 1920 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alta Sierra. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alta Sierra on the 1920 USGS mapAlta Sierra on the 1956 USGS mapAlta Sierra on the 1972 USGS mapAlta Sierra on the 1985 USGS map1920Delonagha 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 Alta Sierra.

The story so far

Alta Sierra, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alta Sierra yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alta Sierra is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California. It is located 8.5 miles (14 km) east of Glennville, at an elevation of 5,718 feet (1,743 m) in the Greenhorn Mountains/Sierra Nevada foothills. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Alta Sierra as a census-designated place (CDP).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Summit Storelocale

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Alta Sierra’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.