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C+History
History · Bishop

Bishop dates to 1861, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns · #230 of 847 in California. What drives it

Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1880.

1861founded
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bishop’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bishop began

When was Bishop founded?

1861

Bishop dates its founding to 1861 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 152 in 18802020 census: 3,819165 years

How historic is Bishop?

C+

More historic than 39% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1870.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bishop’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bishop is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #230 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bishop’s overall grade.
Founding era1861, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.8% of homes (±7.5) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%B+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 39%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 73%

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 Bishop’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 C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). Two sources give 1861.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Bishop’s past

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

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Bishop, and 6 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Bishop’s post office has been open since 1888. Another post office, Bishop Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bishop Creek
1870–1938
Bishop
1888–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bishop Trail ParkJ Diamond Trailer and Recreational Vehicle ParkMountain View Mobile and Recreational Vehicle ParkShady Rest Trailer and Recreational Vehicle ParkSierra Trailer ParkSunrise Mobile Home Park

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

The story

How Bishop came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bishop.

Read it all →

The area around Bishop was inhabited in late prehistoric times by the Eastern Mono (also called Owens Valley Paiute). The Eastern Mono speak a dialect of the Mono language, which is also Numic but is more closely related to Northern Paiute. The Mono people were predominantly sedentary and settled in fixed settlements along rivers or springs which were fed by snowmelt from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The Eastern Mono spent part of the year foraging across the Owens Valley. The more intensive arable farming by means of partly artificial irrigation enabled them to build up food reserves and feed larger groups. The Eastern Mono presently live in and near Bishop. In 1912, the Eastern Mono reservation was established at 67,000 acres (270 km2), but in 1932, Herbert Hoover revoked the reservation and restricted the Bishop Paiute Tribe to 875 acres (3.54 km2) next to the town of Bis…

ChaptersIndigenous peopleFirst American settlersWater conflicts of the Owens Valley

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Bishop in 1908

Passages that mention Bishop, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Bishop Tucker, then, set foot in Uganda on December 27, 1890. Before his coming a large new church had been erected by the native architects 81 ft. long by 24 ft. broad. It was thronged daily by worshippers and learners.
Bishop Hannington and the story of the Uganda mission1908Read the page →
Read the text

Bishop Tucker, then, set foot in Uganda on December 27, 1890. Before his coming a large new church had been erected by the native architects 81 ft. long by 24 ft. broad. It was thronged daily by worshippers and learners.

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

Bishop, 1861 to 1949

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861
    FoundingBishop is established
  3. 1870Post officeThe Bishop Creek post office opens
  4. 1888Post officeThe Bishop post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveNative American students at Bishop Indian School
  7. 1911In the archiveBishop, Inyo Co., Calif
  8. 1928In the archiveRound Valley and Mt. Tom near Keough Radium Hot Springs
  9. 1937In the archivePhotographs, with captions, of Superintendent Bowler visiting Owens Valley Indians, Bisho…
  10. 1938Post officeThe Bishop Creek post office closes
  11. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Bishop, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1920s5 items
Native American students at Bishop Indian School1900Native American students at Bishop Indian SchoolBishop, Inyo Co., Calif1911Bishop, Inyo Co., CalifBishop, Inyo Co., Calif1911Bishop, Inyo Co., CalifRound Valley and Mt. Tom near Keough Radium Hot Springs1928Round Valley and Mt. Tom near Keough Radium Hot Sprin…Round Valley and Mt. Tom near Keough Radium Hot Springs1928Round Valley and Mt. Tom near Keough Radium Hot Sprin…
1930s1 item
Photographs, with captions, of Superintendent Bowler visiting Owens Valley Indians, Bishop, California, from 1937... - …1937Photographs, with captions, of Superintendent Bowler …
1940s–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
Today6 recent
Trees in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest along White Mountain Road east of Bishop, California2012Trees in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest along Wh…Trees in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest along White Mountain Road east of Bishop, California2012Trees in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest along Wh…Trees in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest along White Mountain Road east of Bishop, California2012Trees in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest along Wh…Brown's Town campground and historic site2012Brown's Town campground and historic siteBrown's Town campground and historic site2012Brown's Town campground and historic siteAerial view - Bishop, C2009Aerial view - Bishop, C
On the map

Bishop on the map, 1949 to 1994

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

Bishop on the 1949 USGS mapBishop on the 1951 USGS mapBishop on the 1984 USGS mapBishop on the 1994 USGS map1949Bishop 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 Bishop.

Every building

Bishop, building by building, 1909

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 sheet.

Bishop fire insurance map, 1909, sheet 11909Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Native American students at Bishop Indian School
Retake this viewNative American students at Bishop Indian School, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Bishop, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,879

Between 152 and 3,879 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Bishop’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNative American students at Bishop Indi…: 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.

West BishopIts storyD

Questions about Bishop’s history

What year was Bishop founded?

In 1861, according to Wikidata. Bishop’s post office opened in 1870, and the census of 1880 counted 152 people here.

How does Bishop rank for history?

Bishop is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #230 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 Bishop?

18% of Bishop’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1967.

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 (3), the Library of Congress (9), 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.