More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #619 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Big Bear Lake was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1990.
From Big Bear Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Big Bear Lake began
When was Big Bear Lake founded?
1938
The Big Bear Lake post office opened in 1938, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Pinelake (1891) and Pine Knot (1912), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 5,351 in 19902020 census: 5,04688 years
How historic is Big Bear Lake?
D
More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Big Bear Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Big Bear Lake’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Big Bear Lake is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #619 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Big Bear Lake’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 Big Bear Lake’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 Big Bear Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Big Bear Lake was inhabited by the indigenous Serrano people for over 2,000 years before it was explored by Benjamin Wilson and his party. Once populated by only the natives and the grizzly bears, from which the area received its name, the population of the Big Bear Valley grew rapidly during the Southern California gold rush from 1861 to 1912. Grizzly bears were not found in the region after 1908. Black bears have been in the region since their introduction in 1933, and they are sometimes sighted in residential areas.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Big Bear Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1954San Gorgonio Mountain 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 Big Bear 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.
Retake this viewBig Bear lake and dam, Calif, 1912
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Big Bear Lake’s page.
The Big Bear Lake post office opened in 1938, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Big Bear Lake rank for history?
Big Bear Lake is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #619 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 Big Bear Lake?
6% of Big Bear Lake’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 1976.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (2), 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.
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