More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #440 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Bloomington was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1970.
Founding year: the first Bloomington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Bloomington’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bloomington is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #440 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bloomington’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 Bloomington’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 (±2.2 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 Bloomington’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Bloomington was originally developed as part of the land holdings of the Semi-Tropic Land and Water Company, which was formed in 1887.
In 1907, the Riverside Portland Cement Company built a large plant near the Crestmore Quarries (South Bloomington), and to provide transportation for employees built a standard gauge railroad to Riverside. On May 20, 1911, the line was opened to Bloomington. The original community, known as Crestmore, is generally located between Locust Avenue and Larch Avenue, south of Jurupa Avenue, extending to the Riverside County line. The Pacific Electric Crestmore Line (Riverside–Rialto) provided local service for many years.
The Bloomington post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Bloomington rank for history?
Bloomington is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #440 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 Bloomington?
4% of Bloomington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 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.
