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C−History
History · Beaumont

Beaumont’s post office opened in 1886

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns · #488 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Beaumont was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1920.

1886first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Beaumont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Beaumont began

When was Beaumont founded?

1886

The Beaumont post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, San Gorgonio (1868), San Gargonia (1879) and San Gorgonia (1884), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 857 in 19202020 census: 53,036140 years

How historic is Beaumont?

C−

More historic than 19% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Beaumont’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beaumont is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #488 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Beaumont’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.7% of homes (±1.1) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National 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 19%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 42%

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 Beaumont’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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 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 Beaumont’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Beaumont, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1895 to 1915, drew every building in Beaumont.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Beaumont’s post office has been open since 1886. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

San Gorgonio
1868–1870
San Gargonia
1879–1881
San Gorgonia
1884–1886
Beaumont
1886–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HindaNicklin
Gone or out of use
Rancho Potrerolocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Beaumont
Mountain ViewStewart Sunnyslope

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

Every building

Beaumont, building by building, 1895–1915

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.

Beaumont fire insurance map, 1895, sheet 11895Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Beaumont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Beaumont.

Read it all →

Beaumont, which is French for "Beautiful Mountain", received its name in 1887 from Henry C. Sigler, president of the Southern California Investment Company, because Mount San Jacinto is nearby and visible from the city.

ChaptersEtymologyEarly history20th century growthCorruption allegations

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Beaumont, 1868 to 1977

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe San Gorgonio post office opens
  3. 1870Post officeThe San Gorgonio post office closes
  4. 1879Post officeThe San Gargonia post office opens
  5. 1881Post officeThe San Gargonia post office closes
  6. 1884Post officeThe San Gorgonia post office opens
  7. 1886Post officeThe San Gorgonia post office closes
  8. 1890In the archiveFruit ranch owned by A.H. Judson, Beaumont, California, ca.1890-1900 (CHS-2002)
  9. 20th century
  10. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1950In the archiveTrick or Treating - Beaumont, California (1950)
  12. 1963In the archiveCA 20 I10 NARA 1963 940
  13. 1974Born hereAmir Zaki is born here
  14. 1977In the archiveOld gas station
By decade

Beaumont, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Fruit ranch owned by A.H. Judson, Beaumont, California, ca.1890-1900 (CHS-2002)c. 1890Fruit ranch owned by A.H. Judson, Beaumont, Californi…
1900s–1940snothing 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
1950s–1970s7 items
Trick or Treating - Beaumont, California (1950)1950Trick or Treating - Beaumont, California (1950)CA 20 I10 NARA 1963 9401963CA 20 I10 NARA 1963 940CA 31 I10 NARA 1963 13011963CA 31 I10 NARA 1963 1301Old gas station1977Old gas stationOld gas station1977Old gas stationOld gas station1978Old gas stationOld gas station1978Old gas station
1980s–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
Today16 recent
Beaumont Library District building in2021Beaumont Library District building inBldflag (cropped)2018Bldflag (cropped)Beaumont Civic Center2017Beaumont Civic CenterSP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between El Casco and West Palm Springs, California in February 1981 -- 6 Ph…2016SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between E…SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between El Casco and West Palm Springs, California in February 1981 -- 6 Ph…2016SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between E…SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between El Casco and West Palm Springs, California in February 1981 -- 6 Ph…2016SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between E…SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between El Casco and West Palm Springs, California in February 1981 -- 6 Ph…2016SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between E…SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between El Casco and West Palm Springs, California in February 1981 -- 6 Ph…2016SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between E…SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between El Casco and West Palm Springs, California in February 1981 -- 6 Ph…2016SP signal on the west side of Beaumont Pass between E…Beaumont Library District, Beaumont, CA, bld22016Beaumont Library District, Beaumont, CA, bld2The Fireside Inn--Beaumont, CA2011The Fireside Inn--Beaumont, CAJoan Jett and the Blackhearts Beaumont 20102010Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Beaumont 2010Christopher Cross in2008Christopher Cross inChristopher Cross in beaumont ca (2637703689) (cropped)2008Christopher Cross in beaumont ca (2637703689) (croppe…El RanchoCelebrities Lounge2007El RanchoCelebrities LoungeA Beaumont landscape2007A Beaumont landscape
On the map

Beaumont on the map, 1942 to 1996

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

Beaumont on the 1942 USGS mapBeaumont on the 1953 USGS mapBeaumont on the 1972 USGS mapBeaumont on the 1988 USGS mapBeaumont on the 1996 USGS map1942Banning 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 Beaumont.

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.

Fruit ranch owned by A.H. Judson, Beaumont, California, ca.1890-1900 (CHS-2002)
Retake this viewFruit ranch owned by A.H. Judson, Beaumont, California, ca.1890-1900 (CHS-2002), c. 1890

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Beaumont, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00019201940196019802000202053,036

Grew from 857 people in 1920 to 53,036 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Beaumont’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 viewFruit ranch owned by A.H. Judson, Beaum…: 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.

Cherry ValleyIts storyDCalimesaIts storyDBanning1 historic placeB−

Questions about Beaumont’s history

What year was Beaumont founded?

The Beaumont post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Beaumont rank for history?

Beaumont is more historic than 19% of U.S. towns, #488 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 Beaumont?

3% of Beaumont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 2006.

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 (24), 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.