Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #171 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Banning was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1930.
The Banning post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1913.
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Banning is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #171 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Banning’s 1.9 sits above most of its state (80% of California towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
1895Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Banning.
Initially named Moore City, by Ransom B. Moore, within only a few months the town was renamed for Phineas Banning, "Father of the Port of Los Angeles", who had pastured sheep in the San Gorgonio Pass area, and operated a stagecoach that ran through the Pass.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveBanning Sanatorium, Banning, Calif. (California & Western Med., 1925)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born herePatricia Nelson Limerick is born here
In the archiveRoad House (?), Ramsey Street (Route 99?)
In the archiveWind turbines above San Gorgonio Pass, known as Banning Pass, in Riverside County, Califo…3 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2025Justice Center in
2025Banning, California, Ramsey and San Gorgonio
20252025-08-08 23 18 57 UTC View of western Banning, nort…
20252025-08-08 23 17 47 UTC View of Banning (lower left),…
2020Seal of
2020Ransom B Moore photograph, circa 1880
2019Mount San Gorgonio and Banning aerial
2016Gottlieb Pinball
2015AOC Banning Justice Center, Interior
2015AOC Banning Justice Center, Exterior
2014The Gilman Ranch
2014Mt. San Gorgonio Snow 3-8-14
2013Fulmor Lake, Reflection 12-13
2005Logo of Banning, California (2005–2020)Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Banning. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Banning.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Banning’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 2,752 and 29,603 people in every census since 1930.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Banning’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Banning’s history is told.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Banning post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1913.
Banning is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #171 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.
One place: the Gilman Ranch (listed 1977).
5% of Banning’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1984.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (18), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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