Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #692 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Big Bear City was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1950.
The Big Bear City post office opened in 1928, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Baldwin Lake (1916), Big Bear Park (1934) and Sugarloaf (1947), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Big Bear City is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #692 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Big Bear City’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.
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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Big Bear City’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1980 and 1990, then more than doubled.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Big Bear City’s Wikipedia page.
Big Bear City’s post office has been open since 1928. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Big Bear City.
The first humans to inhabit Big Bear Valley were the Serrano Indians, who trace their beginnings to Bear Valley. Serrano means mountaineers, or those of the Sierras. The Serrano people that settled much of the San Bernardino Mountains, called themselves Yuhaviatam, or: people of the pines.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereItan Daniel Chavira is born here
2018Big bear city airport
2017California ski resort (Unsplash)
2012San Bernardino County Sheriff
2012San Bernardino County Fire Department
2010San Bernardino County, CA, USA - panoramio (20)
2010Fatboy's house
2010Big Bear, CA 92314, USA
2006Big Bear City
2004371 Big Bear Valley Historical Museum 2004-06-27
2004366 Big Bear Valley Historical Museum 2004-06-27Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Big Bear City. 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 Big Bear City.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Big Bear City post office opened in 1928, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Big Bear City is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #692 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.
3% of Big Bear City’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 1978.
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 (10), 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) 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.
