The story
Read it all →How Gardena came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Gardena.
Based on archaeological findings, the Tongva people hunted and fished in the area of today's Gardena.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Gardena
Gardena’s post office opened in 1890
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #440 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Gardena was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1964. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1940.
1890first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
25famous people
Quick answers
How Gardena began
When was Gardena founded?
1890
The Gardena post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1930.
First census: 5,909 in 19402020 census: 61,027136 years
How historic is Gardena?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gardena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1930.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gardena’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gardena is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #440 of 847 in California. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Gardena’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.2% of homes (±1.0) · 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 21%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 48%
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 Gardena’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 C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1930.
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 Gardena’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · On the map
Gardena on the map, 1896 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Gardena. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1896Redondo sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Gardena.
Famous people
See all →25 famous people were born in Gardena
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Timeline
Gardena, 1890 to 1977
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1890Post officeThe Gardena post office opens
- 1896
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1925
Born hereArt Pepper is born here - 1951
In the archiveCabbageFarmer - 1951
Born hereAaron Norris is born here - 1953
Born herePatti Yasutake is born here - 1964
In the archiveTrolley in - 1973
Born hereTyus Edney is born here - 1977
In the archiveVoyager golden record gold plating
By decade
Gardena, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1950s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1950s–1970s5 items
1951
19561980s–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 albumEvery building
Gardena, building by building, 1908–1912
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.
1908Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn 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.
Retake this viewCabbageFarmer, 1951
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Gardena’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Gardena, census by census
Grew from 5,909 people in 1940 to 61,027 in 2020, more than tenfold.
9 censuses, 1940–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Gardena’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and places now gone
Gardena’s post office has been open since 1890.
Hamlets and corners on the map
HermosilloStrawberry Park
Gone or out of use
Calvary Christian AcademyschoolGardena Valley AirportairportVermont Drive-Inlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Gardena’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Gardena’s history
What year was Gardena founded?
The Gardena post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1930.
How does Gardena rank for history?
Gardena is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #440 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 Gardena?
4% of Gardena’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1964.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), 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.