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C−History
History · Bonita

Bonita’s post office opened in 1898

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #576 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Bonita was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1980.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bonita began

When was Bonita founded?

1898

The Bonita post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Sunnyside (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 6,257 in 19802020 census: 12,917128 years

How historic is Bonita?

C−

More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Bonita’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bonita is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #576 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 Bonita’s overall grade.
Founding era1898, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±1.0) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational 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 15%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 32%

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 Bonita’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 (±1.0 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 Bonita’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bonita are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19047 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1996. Watch Bonita change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bonita’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bonita’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Bonita on the map, 1904 to 1996

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

Bonita on the 1904 USGS mapBonita on the 1930 USGS mapBonita on the 1944 USGS mapBonita on the 1953 USGS mapBonita on the 1967 USGS mapBonita on the 1975 USGS mapBonita on the 1996 USGS map1904San Diego 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 Bonita.

The story

How Bonita came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bonita.

Read it all →

Before the arrival of the Spanish, Kumeyaay lived in the area around Sweetwater Valley, and called it Apusquel. After the establishment of Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the valley was used for cattle raising but was not significantly settled. After gaining independence from the Spanish Empire, the valley became part of a land grant awarded to John (Don Juan) Forster. The word Bonita is a feminine word for "pretty" in the Spanish language. It was the name of a ranch owned by Henry Ernest Cooper, Sr. in 1884, and was used by the nearby post office. The ranch itself was used to cultivate lemons, which were first grown in the area beginning in 1871. During the early years lemon industry was thriving, where it became the originator of the Bonnie Brae Lemon variety, named after the first lemon ranch in the community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bonita, 1892 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Sunnyside post office opens
  3. 1898Post officeThe Bonita post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1974Post officeThe Sunnyside post office closes
  7. 1989Born hereGuido Knudson is born here
  8. 1992Born hereDaniel Camarena is born here
  9. 1995Born hereHannah Flippen is born here
By decade

Bonita, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Aerial view of San Diego, CA looking SW along CA Route 54 from Bay Terraces2026Aerial view of San Diego, CA looking SW along CA Rout…Aerial view looking roughly south from Bay Terraces, San Diego, CA toward Bonita and Chula Vista2026Aerial view looking roughly south from Bay Terraces, …WR This Cats Smart — Bronze Horse Sculpture at the Greg Cox Civic Complex2025WR This Cats Smart — Bronze Horse Sculpture at the Gr…McRib box2024McRib boxTacos de Pescado2015Tacos de PescadoBonita-south2005Bonita-south
People over time

Bonita, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00019802000202012,917

Grew from 6,257 people in 1980 to 12,917 in 2020.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Bonita

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Guido KnudsonAmerican baseball player · b. 1989
Daniel CamarenaAmerican baseball player · b. 1992
Hannah FlippenAmerican softball player · b. 1995
Places that used to be

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

Bonita’s post office has been open since 1898. Another post office, Sunnyside, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sunnyside
1892–1974
Bonita
1898–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Lynwood HillsSunnyside
Gone or out of use
Bonita Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Bonita
Glen Abbey Memorial Park

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Chula VistaIts storyC−National City4 historic placesA−San Diego92 historic placesALa PresaIts storyC−

Questions about Bonita’s history

What year was Bonita founded?

The Bonita post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Bonita rank for history?

Bonita is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #576 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 Bonita?

0.8% of Bonita’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1976.

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 (6), 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.