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2010-0615-BakerCAPhoto: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0
–Not graded
History · Baker

Baker’s post office opened in 1933

Most of Baker was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1956 on.

1933first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Baker began

When was Baker founded?

1933

The Baker post office opened in 1933, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 44293 years
Founding year: the first Baker post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Baker’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 Baker are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Baker’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Baker’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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The story

How Baker came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Baker.

Read it all →

Baker was founded as a station on the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad in 1908 and was named for Richard C. Baker, business partner of Francis Marion Smith in building the railroad. Baker later became president of the T&T himself.

Baker was established in 1929 by Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks (1857–1942), who was an American prospector, entrepreneur, and pioneer who established several towns in the Death Valley area of California, including Fairbanks Springs (1904–05) and Shoshone (1910).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Baker, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Sunset over the Soda Mountains and the Barstow Freeway (Interstate Highway 15) east of2012Sunset over the Soda Mountains and the Barstow Freewa…Abandoned Baker landfill perimeter fence ^ sign2012Abandoned Baker landfill perimeter fence ^ signBaker, California from Flight Between Las Vegas, Nevada and Orange County, California2011Baker, California from Flight Between Las Vegas, Neva…CroneseCat2010CroneseCat2010-0615-BakerCA20102010-0615-BakerCABaker California from south 12008Baker California from south 1
On the map

Baker on the map, 1956 to 1983

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

Baker on the 1956 USGS mapBaker on the 1983 USGS map1956Baker 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 Baker.

Questions about Baker’s history

What year was Baker founded?

The Baker post office opened in 1933, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, 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.