More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #727 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Calimesa was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1990.
Founding year: the first Calimesa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1990.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Calimesa’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calimesa is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #727 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calimesa’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 Calimesa’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 D. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1990.
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 Calimesa’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Historically, Calimesa began as a small rural town with mostly single-family homes and ranches. With completion of U.S. Route 99 (now I-10), businesses opened and Calimesa began to take on a separate identity from the larger neighboring town of Yucaipa. In June 1929, nearly 100 residents attended a meeting and decided to apply for their own post office and to start a "name contest" in which the winner was paid $10. Calimesa was chosen from 107 names submitted, and is said to come from "cali" (referring to California) and "mesa" from the Spanish word meaning "table" or "table-lands." The first post office was the grocery store at Calimesa Boulevard and Avenue K.
The Serrano people and the Cahuilla people inhabited the area.
The Calimesa post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1990.
How does Calimesa rank for history?
Calimesa is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #727 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 Calimesa?
2% of Calimesa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (4), Wikipedia, 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.
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