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CHistory
History · Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa dates to 1776

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #303 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Costa Mesa was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1950.

1776founded
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: pelle68 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Costa Mesa began

When was Costa Mesa founded?

1776

Costa Mesa dates its founding to 1776 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1950.

First census: 11,844 in 19502020 census: 111,918250 years

How historic is Costa Mesa?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Costa Mesa’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Costa Mesa is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #303 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 Costa Mesa’s overall grade.
Founding era1776, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.5% of homes (±0.5) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National 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 33%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 64%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Costa Mesa ranks #293 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 Costa Mesa’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.

Newer cities are common at Costa Mesa’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1776.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Costa Mesa’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Costa Mesa, and 14 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Costa Mesa are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18968 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1981. Watch Costa Mesa change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1776: 250 years of Costa Mesa.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Costa Mesa’s post office has been open since 1920. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fairview
1888–1903
Harper
1909–1920
Costa Mesa
1920–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cliff HavenCosta Mesa Mobile Home EstatesEl Nido Mobile Home EstatesGreenleaf Mobile Home ParkHoosier Trailer CourtIsland View Trailer ParkPaularinoPlay Port Mobile Home VillagePonderosa Mobile Home ParkRegal Mobile Club EstatesSanta Ana HeightsSnug Harbor Trailer ParkThurinTradewinds Trailer Village
Gone or out of use
Martins Landing FieldairportMonte Vista Schoolschool

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

Help out

Start Costa Mesa’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Costa Mesa’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

Costa Mesa on the map, 1896 to 1981

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

Costa Mesa on the 1896 USGS mapCosta Mesa on the 1901 USGS mapCosta Mesa on the 1932 USGS mapCosta Mesa on the 1949 USGS mapCosta Mesa on the 1951 USGS mapCosta Mesa on the 1965 USGS mapCosta Mesa on the 1972 USGS mapCosta Mesa on the 1981 USGS map1896Santa Ana 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 Costa Mesa.

The story

How Costa Mesa came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Costa Mesa.

Read it all →

Members of the Tongva and Acjachemen nations long inhabited the area. The Tongva villages of Lupukngna, at least 3,000 years old, and the shared Tongva and Acjachemen village of Genga, at least 9,500 years old, were located in the area on the bluffs along the Santa Ana River.

After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà, a Spanish expedition led by Junípero Serra named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana (Valley of Saint Anne). On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area's first permanent European settlement in Alta California, New Spain.

In 1801, the Spanish Empire granted 62,500 acres (253 km2) to Jose Antonio Yorba, which he named Rancho San Antonio.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Costa Mesa, 1776 to 1984

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1776
    FoundingCosta Mesa is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1888Post officeThe Fairview post office opens
  5. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Fairview post office closes
  8. 1909Post officeThe Harper post office opens
  9. 1920Post officeThe Harper post office closes
  10. 1920Post officeThe Costa Mesa post office opens
  11. 1949Born hereLonnie Frisbee is born here
  12. 1981Born hereZach Wells is born here
  13. 1982Born hereApril Ross is born here
  14. 1984Born hereIan McCall is born here
By decade

Costa Mesa, decade by decade

Today2 recent
YFQ-44 ground test2025YFQ-44 ground testOrange County2016Orange County
Every building

Costa Mesa, building by building, 1928

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 sheet.

Costa Mesa fire insurance map, 1928, sheet 11928Sheet 1 of 4
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

People over time

Costa Mesa, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,0001960198020002020111,918

Grew from 11,844 people in 1950 to 111,918 in 2020, 9 times over.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Costa Mesa

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

See all →
April RossAmerican beach volleyball player · b. 1982
Ian McCallAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1984
Zach WellsAmerican soccer player · b. 1981
L
Lonnie FrisbeeAmerican pastor · b. 1949
R
Richson SimeonMarshallese sprinter · b. 1997
M
Megan CrossonAssociation football player · b. 1994
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Newport Beach6 historic placesB−Santa Ana23 historic placesBIrvine3 historic placesC−Huntington Beach6 historic placesC−

Questions about Costa Mesa’s history

What year was Costa Mesa founded?

In 1776, according to Wikidata. Costa Mesa’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1950 counted 11,844 people here.

How does Costa Mesa rank for history?

Costa Mesa is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #303 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 Costa Mesa?

2% of Costa Mesa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 (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 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.