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DHistory
History · Commerce

Commerce was first counted by the census in 1960

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns · #680 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Commerce was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1957. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1960.

1960first census
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Justefrain · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Commerce began

When was Commerce founded?

1960

Commerce first appears in the census in 1960. Another post office, Simons (1908), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 9,555 in 19602020 census: 12,37866 years

How historic is Commerce?

D

More historic than 10% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Commerce’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Commerce is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #680 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Commerce’s overall grade.
Founding era1960, from the first census: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19405.0% of homes (±2.6) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%CNational 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 10%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 20%

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 Commerce’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 (±2.6 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: the first census (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 Commerce’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Commerce, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Commerce’s homes were built before 1957.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Commerce’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

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

Another post office, Simons, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
BandiniGageLagunaRio HondoSimons
Gone or out of use
Laguna SchoolschoolLos Angeles Eastside AirportairportTelegraph Atlantic AirportairportVail Fieldairport
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Commerce
Mount CarmelMount Olive Memorial Park JewishPark LawnRussian Molokan

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

The story

How Commerce came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Commerce.

Read it all →

In the 19th century, the area was part of Antonio Maria Lugo's Rancho San Antonio. Its conversion to an industrial area began in 1887, when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built its main line through the area. The ranch remained intact until Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker, reputedly once the wealthiest woman in Los Angeles, sold some of it around the turn of the 20th century. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad (later the Union Pacific) both were built through what would become the community, as was the Pacific Electric Railway's Whittier Line. By the 1920s, factories had arrived. In the late 1940s, industrial leaders banded together with residents in the communities of Bandini, Rosewood, and Laguna to encourage commerce. They changed the name to match that goal.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Commerce, 1901 to 1990

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1908Post officeThe Simons post office opens
  4. 1923In the archiveLos Angeles Central Manufacturing District map 1923
  5. 1934Post officeThe Simons post office closes
  6. 1974Born hereRicardo Lara is born here
  7. 1984Born herePatty Cardenas is born here
  8. 1990Born hereÓscar Molina is born here
  9. 1990Born hereJavier Molina is born here
By decade

Commerce, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Los Angeles Central Manufacturing District map 19231923Los Angeles Central Manufacturing District map 1923Map
1930s–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
Today20 recent
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) laboratory and office in Commerce, Californi…2023USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Specialty C…CommerceMontageCA2011CommerceMontageCA
On the map

Commerce on the map in 1901

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Commerce.

Commerce on the 1901 USGS map1901Southern California Sheet No 1 sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Commerce.

People over time

Commerce, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,0001960198020002020Peak: 12,823

Between 9,555 and 12,823 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Commerce

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

See all →
P
Patty CardenasAmerican water polo player · b. 1984
Ricardo LaraAmerican politician · b. 1974
Ó
Óscar MolinaOlympic boxer · b. 1990
J
Javier MolinaAmerican boxer · b. 1990
C
Carlos MolinaAmerican boxer · b. 1985
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Montebello1 historic placeCEast Los Angeles4 historic placesABellIts storyC+Bell GardensIts storyC−VernonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDowney2 historic placesC+Los Angeles284 historic placesA

Questions about Commerce’s history

What year was Commerce founded?

The Commerce post office opened in 1960, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Commerce rank for history?

Commerce is more historic than 10% of U.S. towns, #680 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 Commerce?

5% of Commerce’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1957.

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 (21), 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.