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D−History
History · Apple Valley

Apple Valley’s post office opened in 1949

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #836 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Apple Valley was built recently: 0.3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1970.

1949first post office
0on the National Register
0.3%homes built before 1940
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Apple Valley began

When was Apple Valley founded?

1949

The Apple Valley post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1988.

First census: 6,702 in 19702020 census: 75,79177 years

How historic is Apple Valley?

D−

More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Apple Valley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1988.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Apple Valley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Apple Valley is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #836 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Apple Valley’s overall grade.
Founding era1949, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.3% of homes (±0.2) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 2%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)#836 of 847

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 Apple Valley’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1988 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Apple Valley’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 Apple Valley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Apple Valley, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Famous sons and daughtersMiko Hughes, Megan Jastrab and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Apple Valley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Apple Valley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Apple Valley’s post office has been open since 1949. Another post office, Bell Mountain, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Apple Valley
1949–today
Bell Mountain
1953–1956
19401980today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bell MountainCotners CornerDesert KnollsDesert Knolls ManorLone Wolf ColonySunset Hills
Gone or out of use
Piercy Quarrymine

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

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Apple Valley

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
M
Miko HughesAmerican actor · b. 1986
M
Megan JastrabAmerican cyclist · b. 2002
K
Kyle SmaineAmerican freestyle skier · b. 1991
Jason VargasAmerican baseball player · b. 1983
Van ConnerAmerican musician · b. 1967
C
Chris EngenAmerican actor · b. 1979
The story

How Apple Valley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Apple Valley.

Read it all →

For centuries, Apple Valley was populated by Shoshonean, Paiute, Vanyume, Chemehuevi, and Serrano who were attracted to the water and vegetation around the Mojave River. The Mojave people came later and were the tribal group encountered in 1542 by a detachment of Coronado's men. These were the first Spanish to come to the Mojave desert.

Pedro Fages came through the area in 1772, looking for deserters. Father Francisco Garcés spent time in the area in 1776. He was on good terms with local tribes. He killed one of his mules to feed a group of starving Vanyumes. Garcés established a trail across the Mojave to the Colorado River passing through the Apple Valley area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Apple Valley, 1949 to 2002

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1949Post officeThe Apple Valley post office opens
  3. 1953Post officeThe Bell Mountain post office opens
  4. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1956Post officeThe Bell Mountain post office closes
  6. 1983Born hereJason Vargas is born here
  7. 1986Born hereMiko Hughes is born here
  8. 1991Born hereKyle Smaine is born here
  9. 21st century
  10. 2002Born hereMegan Jastrab is born here
By decade

Apple Valley, decade by decade

Today30 recent
Roses in2025Roses inRoses at Apple Valley house32025Roses at Apple Valley house3Roses at Apple Valley house22025Roses at Apple Valley house2Roses at Apple Valley house12025Roses at Apple Valley house1Roses at Apple Valley house2025Roses at Apple Valley houseRoses at Apple Valley house (cropped)2025Roses at Apple Valley house (cropped)CalPortland2024CalPortlandApple Valley 1-14-24 72024Apple Valley 1-14-24 7Apple Valley 1-14-24 62024Apple Valley 1-14-24 6Apple Valley 1-14-24 52024Apple Valley 1-14-24 5Apple Valley 1-14-24 42024Apple Valley 1-14-24 4Apple Valley 1-14-24 32024Apple Valley 1-14-24 3Apple Valley 1-14-24 22024Apple Valley 1-14-24 2Apple Valley 1-14-24 12024Apple Valley 1-14-24 1Apple Valley from Bass Hill Trail2023Apple Valley from Bass Hill TrailAerial Photograph of Victorville, California 2020-02-032020Aerial Photograph of Victorville, California 2020-02-…Aerial Photograph of Victorville, California 2020-02-03 21 21 45 9490002020Aerial Photograph of Victorville, California 2020-02-…Abitazioni sulle colline di Apple Valley riprese dalla strada2020Abitazioni sulle colline di Apple Valley riprese dall…View of Hilltop Tavern and San Bernardino Mountains2019View of Hilltop Tavern and San Bernardino MountainsView from Hilltop Inn 062019View from Hilltop Inn 06View from Hilltop Inn 052019View from Hilltop Inn 05View from Hilltop Inn 042019View from Hilltop Inn 04View from Hilltop Inn 032019View from Hilltop Inn 03View from Hilltop Inn 022019View from Hilltop Inn 02View from Hilltop Inn 012019View from Hilltop Inn 01Datura wrightii in Apple Valley, California 32019Datura wrightii in Apple Valley, California 3Datura wrightii in Apple Valley, California 22019Datura wrightii in Apple Valley, California 2Datura wrightii in Apple Valley, California 12019Datura wrightii in Apple Valley, California 1Lake Arrowhead from Arrow Bear, CA 4-162016Lake Arrowhead from Arrow Bear, CA 4-16Apple Valley, CA, USA2014Apple Valley, CA, USA
On the map

Apple Valley on the map, 1953 to 1966

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

Apple Valley on the 1953 USGS mapApple Valley on the 1966 USGS map1953San Bernardino sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Apple Valley.

People over time

Apple Valley, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,00019802000202075,791

Grew from 6,702 people in 1970 to 75,791 in 2020, more than tenfold.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Apple Valley’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Spring Valley LakeIts storyDVictorvilleIts storyC−HesperiaIts storyD

Questions about Apple Valley’s history

What year was Apple Valley founded?

The Apple Valley post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1988.

How does Apple Valley rank for history?

Apple Valley is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #836 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.

How old are the homes in Apple Valley?

0.3% of Apple Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1987.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (30), 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.