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History · Anchor Bay

1 of Anchor Bay’s places is on the National Register

Its Register listing is the O. W. Getchell House. Most of Anchor Bay was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1943 on.

1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Anchor Bay’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Anchor Bay’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Anchor Bay’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Anchor Bay, in brief

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

Anchor Bay (formerly Anchor Bay Settlement) is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northwest of Gualala, at an elevation of 105 feet (32 m). The population was 473 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 340 to 473 (+39%).

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

Timeline

Anchor Bay, 1871 to 1943

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Fish Rock post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910Post officeThe Fish Rock post office closes
  5. 1918In the archiveEnlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zone
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Anchor Bay, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s4 items
Enlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zone1918Enlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zoneMapEnlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zone1918Enlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zoneMapEnlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zone1918Enlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zoneMapEnlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zone1918Enlarged map of Anchor Bay showing danger zoneMap
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Anchor Bay - April 2023 - Sarah Stierch 012023Anchor Bay - April 2023 - Sarah Stierch 01Anchor Bay2008Anchor Bay
On the map

Anchor Bay on the map, 1943 to 1998

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

Anchor Bay on the 1943 USGS mapAnchor Bay on the 1960 USGS mapAnchor Bay on the 1977 USGS mapAnchor Bay on the 1998 USGS map1943Point Arena 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 Anchor Bay.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Anchor Bay

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
O. W. Getchell House
O. W. Getchell House
Buildings
O. W. Getchell HouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Anchor Bay

Nobody well known was born in Anchor Bay itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Shiloh FernandezAmerican actor · b. 1985
D
David Del TrediciAmerican composer · b. 1937
Holly NearAmerican actress, singer and activist · b. 1949
C
Christine FeehanAmerican writer · b. 2000
Ed BurkeAmerican hammer thrower · b. 1940
William Harrison StandleyUnited States admiral · b. 1872
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Another post office, Fish Rock, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Fish Rock
1cemetery inside Anchor Bay
Fish Rock

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Anchor Bay’s history

What is on the National Register in Anchor Bay?

One place: the O. W. Getchell House (listed 1980).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.