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History · Bass Lake

Bass Lake’s post office opened in 1912

Most of Bass Lake was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 6 old photos and papers and maps from 1953 on.

1912first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bass Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bass Lake began

When was Bass Lake founded?

1912

The Bass Lake post office opened in 1912, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 575114 years
Founding year: the first Bass Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
The story so far

Bass Lake, in brief

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

Bass Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Madera County, California, United States, within the Sierra National Forest. The community surrounds Bass Lake, a reservoir on Willow Creek approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 575. The area was historically inhabited by the Mono people and later developed around logging and hydroelectric power. During the 20th century, Bass Lake became a recreational and seasonal residential community, with resorts, campgrounds, boating, and other outdoor recreation centered on the reservoir. The area was also the site of annual Hells Angels gatherings begin…

Its first post office opened in 1912. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 527 to 575 (+9%).

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

Timeline

Bass Lake, 1912 to 1953

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1912Post officeThe Bass Lake post office opens
  3. 1917In the archiveBass-Lake-1917
  4. 1927In the archiveBass Lake The Pines
  5. 1945In the archiveAngel Falls on Willow Creek
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bass Lake, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s6 items
Bass-Lake-19171917Bass-Lake-1917PostcardBass Lake The Pines1927Bass Lake The PinesPostcardBass Lake Willow Creek1927Bass Lake Willow CreekPostcardAngel Falls on Willow Creek1945Angel Falls on Willow CreekPostcardLongs-Photo-Studio---Bass-Lake-Lakeshore-21945Longs-Photo-Studio---Bass-Lake-Lakeshore-2PostcardLongs-Photo-Studio---Bass-Lake-Lakeshore-31945Longs-Photo-Studio---Bass-Lake-Lakeshore-3Postcard
1950s–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
On the map

Bass Lake on the map, 1953 to 2004

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

Bass Lake on the 1953 USGS mapBass Lake on the 1990 USGS mapBass Lake on the 2004 USGS map1953Bass Lake 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 Bass Lake.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bass-Lake-1917
Retake this viewBass-Lake-1917, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bass Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Bass Lake

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

See all →
C
Chris ColferActor, singer, book author · b. 1990
A
Alysa LiuAmerican figure skater · b. 2005
J
Jacoby ShaddixAmerican singer, songwriter and rapper · b. 1976
Colby CovingtonAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1988
George RadanovichAmerican politician · b. 1955
J
Jake SandvigAmerican actor · b. 1986
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Bass Lake’s post office has been open since 1912.

Hamlets and corners on the map
The Pines
Gone or out of use
Bass Lake Post Officepost officeWishon Airportairport

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

Help out

Finish Bass Lake’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBass-Lake-1917: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

OakhurstIts storyD

Questions about Bass Lake’s history

What year was Bass Lake founded?

The Bass Lake post office opened in 1912, 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 →
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), 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.