More historic than 9% of U.S. towns · #695 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Bay Point was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1907 on and the census since 2000.
The Bay Point post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Baypoint (1901), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 21,534 in 20002020 census: 23,896125 years
How historic is Bay Point?
D
More historic than 9% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Bay Point post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bay Point’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bay Point is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #695 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 Bay Point’s overall grade.
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 Bay Point’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 C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Bay Point’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bay Point was previously known by several names, including Bella Vista and, until 1993, West Pittsburg. An election was held in 1993 to vote on renaming the community Bay Point, reviving a historical name used in this area. "West Pittsburg," the former name, was sometimes confused with the western unincorporated section of Pittsburg, California. Bay Point is similarly unincorporated.
Passages that mention Bay Point, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Contra Costa County, California1926 · page 496Read the page →
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The products of the Cowell Portland Cement Company are carried to market by a railroad owned by the same stockholders, known as the Bay Point and Clayton Railroad Company, which has connections with the San Francisco-Sacramento Railroad Company at Clyde, Cal., and the Southern Pacific Company and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad at Bay Point, giving it unsurpassed facilities for making prompt deliveries to its customers.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Contra Costa County, California1917 · page 294Read the page →
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of the railroad was decided upon after checking up the report of the engineers. As soon as this decision was made the Oakland & Antioch Railway was organized and incorporated in January, 1909. Building was started February 1909, at Bay Point, and the line was put into operation between Bay Point and Walnut Creek in May, 191 1. Still building toward Oakland, and extending the service as the track was built, the Oakland & Antioch Railway was completed and service installed between Bay Point and Oakland in April, 191 3.
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History of Contra Costa County, California1926 · page 274Read the page →
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A new warehouse for Blum & Company is being erected at Bay Point, upon the site of the old one that was blown down two years ago. The new building is 150 by 44 feet. They will also erect a small station house, as Bay Point is a flag-station.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Contra Costa County, California1917Read the page →
Read the text
On part of this tract was immediately established the Bay Point plant of the C. A. Smith Lumber Company, and a strip 2658 feet wide on tidewater, extending back to the foothills, was reserved for the town-site, officially designated on the filed plats as "The City of Bay Point." The transcontinental tracks of the Southern Pacific Company and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company divide the town-site into
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Bay Point, 1901 to 1931
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Bay Point post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bay Point rank for history?
Bay Point is more historic than 9% of U.S. towns, #695 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 Bay Point?
3% of Bay Point’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (17), Wikipedia, 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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