More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #515 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Buena Park was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1949 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Buena Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Buena Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Buena Park is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #515 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 Buena Park’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 Buena Park’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 (±0.8 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 Buena Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The area of Buena Park was the site of the Tongva village known as Juyubit. The village was located alongside Coyote Creek at the foot of the West Coyote Hills. It was consistently recorded as one of the largest villages in Tovaangar. Being established alongside creeks in a valley, the village prospered. Oak trees provided acorns, while native grasses and sage bushes regularly produced seeds. Rabbit and mule deer were common sources of meat. Juyubit was a center for trade through a series of trails with coastal and mountain villages.
Passages that mention Buena Park, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 1448Read the page →
Read the text
There were four boys in the family, all of whom are living, and James was the second child. He went to the local public school and the Lake Forest University and on completing the course he came to California in 1884 with an uncle, James Whitaker, who laid out Buena Park in Orange County. For some time uncle and nephew worked together, and then our subject, with Tom Deering, bought out a general merchandise establishment at Buena Park, at which place he was in business until 1909. He was the first postmaster at that place, and he remained there for about twenty years.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 83Read the page →
Read the text
Buena Park is the last station on the Southern Pacific Railway before crossing into Los Angeles County. It is surrounded by alfalfa, beet and general farming lands. Here is located the large condensed milk factory of the Pacific Creamery Compan}'.
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
Buena Park, 1887 to 1996
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Buena Park post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Buena Park rank for history?
Buena Park is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #515 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 Buena Park?
2% of Buena Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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.
1917
