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B−History
History · Burbank

Burbank’s post office opened in 1887, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #131 of 847 in California. What drives it

Its Register listings are the US Post Office-Burbank Downtown Station, the City Hall-City of Burbank and the Mariposa Street Bridge. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1920.

1887first post office
3on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
41famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Burbank’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Burbank began

When was Burbank founded?

1887

The Burbank post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,913 in 19202020 census: 107,337139 years

How historic is Burbank?

B−

More historic than 54% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Burbank’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Burbank is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #131 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Burbank’s overall grade.
Founding era1887, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194012.8% of homes (±1.4) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register3 listings, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 54%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 85%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Burbank ranks #225 on History.

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 Burbank’s 0.3 sits above most of its state (67% of California towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±1.4 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 Burbank’s past

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

On the map since 18947 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1972. Watch Burbank change.Famous sons and daughtersTim Burton, Rene Russo and 39 more were born here.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1857–1917.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · On the map

Burbank on the map, 1894 to 1972

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

Burbank on the 1894 USGS mapBurbank on the 1900 USGS mapBurbank on the 1926 USGS mapBurbank on the 1948 USGS mapBurbank on the 1953 USGS mapBurbank on the 1966 USGS mapBurbank on the 1972 USGS map1894Los Angeles 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 Burbank.

Famous people

41 famous people were born in Burbank

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

See all →
T
Tim BurtonAmerican filmmaker and artist · b. 1958
Rene RussoAmerican actress and model · b. 1954
M
Mark HarmonAmerican actor · b. 1951
Bonnie RaittAmerican musician · b. 1949
Doug SavantActor · b. 1964
W
Wil WheatonAmerican actor and writer · b. 1972
By decade

Burbank, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1880s11 items
Scott Tract1857Scott TractRancho Providencia Hall Map 18801880Rancho Providencia Hall Map 1880MapRanchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map California land grant 011881Ranchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map Califo…MapRanchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map California land grant 021881Ranchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map Califo…MapRanchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map California land grant 031881Ranchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map Califo…MapRanchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map California land grant 041881Ranchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map Califo…MapRanchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map California land grant 051881Ranchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map Califo…BookRanchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map California land grant 061881Ranchos Providencia y Cahuenga U.S. survey map Califo…BookProvidencialandwaterdevelopmentc. 1886ProvidencialandwaterdevelopmentBurbank Villa Hotel, 1887 (BUR15)1887Burbank Villa Hotel, 1887 (BUR15)Burbank-1889c. 1889Burbank-1889
1910s1 item
California - Bonita Cove through Cabazon1917California - Bonita Cove through Cabazon
1920s–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
The story

How Burbank came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Burbank.

Read it all →

The area that became Burbank was inhabited by the Tongva people, an indigenous population, for thousands of years before European colonization. In the late 18th century and the early 19th century, Spanish explorers and mission priests arrived in the Los Angeles area. The city of Burbank occupies land that was previously part of two Spanish and Mexican-era colonial land grants: the 36,400-acre (147 km2) Rancho San Rafael, granted to Jose Maria Verdugo by the Spanish Bourbon government in 1784, and the 4,063-acre (16.44 km2) Rancho Providencia created in 1821. This area was the scene of a military skirmish which resulted in the unseating of the Spanish Governor of California, and his replacement by the Mexican leader Pio Pico.

ChaptersIndigenous peoples and Spanish eraMexican rancho era and early American eraRailroad drives growth (1874–1888)Rapid growth and modernization (1900–1956)City of BurbankEarly manufacturingAviationEntertainment industry

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Burbank, 1857 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1857In the archiveScott Tract
  3. 1880In the archiveRancho Providencia Hall Map 1880
  4. 1887Post officeThe Burbank post office opens
  5. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1917In the archiveCalifornia - Bonita Cove through Cabazon
  8. 1943BuiltCity Hall-City of Burbank is built
  9. 1949Born hereBonnie Raitt is born here
  10. 1951Born hereMark Harmon is born here
  11. 1954Born hereRene Russo is born here
  12. 1958Born hereTim Burton is born here
Every building

Burbank, building by building, 1910–1923

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 year, then a sheet.

Burbank fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
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.

Scott Tract
Retake this viewScott Tract, 1857

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Burbank

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
US Post Office-Burbank Downtown Station
US Post Office-Burbank Downtown StationCity Hall-City of Burbank, built 1943Mariposa Street Bridge
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Spanish Colonial Revival1
Moderne1
US Post Office-Burbank Downtown StationSpanish Colonial Revival
City Hall-City of BurbankModerne · Built 1943
All 3 listings
Mariposa Street BridgeStructure · listed 2024

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Burbank, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000192019401960198020002020107,337

Grew from 2,913 people in 1920 to 107,337 in 2020, more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Burbank’s post office has been open since 1887.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Burbank JunctionMagnolia ParkMcNeilVega
Gone or out of use
Burbank Evangelical United Brethren ChurchchurchPickwick Drive-InlocaleSunset Canyon Country ClublocaleThompson Memorial Medical Centerhospital

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

Help out

Finish Burbank’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewScott Tract: 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.

Los Angeles284 historic placesAGlendale14 historic placesB+

Questions about Burbank’s history

What year was Burbank founded?

The Burbank post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Burbank rank for history?

Burbank is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #131 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.

What is on the National Register in Burbank?

Three places: the US Post Office-Burbank Downtown Station (listed 1985), the City Hall-City of Burbank (1996) and the Mariposa Street Bridge (2024).

How old are the homes in Burbank?

13% of Burbank’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1959.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.