Huntington Beach’s post office opened in 1903, and 6 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #412 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Huntington Beach was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. 6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1901 on, and the census since 1910.
From Huntington Beach’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Huntington Beach began
When was Huntington Beach founded?
1903
The Huntington Beach post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Smeltzer (1900), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 815 in 19102020 census: 198,711123 years
How historic is Huntington Beach?
C−
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Huntington Beach post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Huntington Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Huntington Beach is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #412 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Huntington Beach’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Huntington Beach ranks #335 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 Huntington Beach’s 0.4 sits above most of its state (69% of California towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Huntington Beach’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 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 Huntington Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Huntington Beach’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, Smeltzer, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Smeltzer
1900–1900
Huntington Beach
1903–today
Sunset Beach
1905–today
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Beachview Mobile Home ParkBoulevard GardensBrookfield Manor Mobile Home ParkHuntington Harbor Mobile Home ParkHuntington HarbourHuntington Mobile Home EstatesHuntington Shorecliffs Mobile Home ParkLa BolsaLiberty ParkOcean ViewOcean View EstatesPacific Trailer ParkRancho Huntington Mobile Home ParkSea Aria East Mobile Home EstatesSea Aria West Mobile Home EstatesSea Breeze Trailer ParkSkandia Mobile Country ParkSmeltzerSugarSunset BeachSurfsideVilla Huntington Mobile Home ParkWintersburg
Gone or out of use
First Methodist Episcopal ChurchchurchHuntington Beach AirportairportMeadowlark Airportairport
1cemetery inside Huntington Beach
The Good Shepherd Cemetery and Mausoleum
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Huntington Beach’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Huntington Beach’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
The Tongva village of Lupukngna was located in what became Huntington Beach, with an approximate location near the Newland House Museum. Bolsa Chica was one of the areas where the Tongva would settle during the winter. The nearby village of Genga, shared with the Acjachemen, was located across the Santa Ana River in what became Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.
Passages that mention Huntington Beach, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 1124Read the page →
Read the text
fine residences which he sold; he has just completed a handsome house overlooking the ocean, where he intends to make his permanent home. Another of his successful enterprises is the Princess Theatre, which he built and owns. Among the many enterprises Mr. Howard was instrumental in founding at Huntington Beach, none have given him as much real pleasure and satisfaction as the organizing and building of the First Methodist Church of Huntington Beach, to which he gave freely of his time and financial help and served as president of the church board. He is recognized as one of the most public-spirited men of the city and is always ready to help promote
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 850Read the page →
Read the text
Soon after, four lots on the corner of Eighth and Walnuts steets were bought as a site for future library purposes, and on February 13, 1913 — a red-letter day in the history of Huntington Beach — the glad tidings was received from New York that the Carnegie Corporation had given the city of Huntington Beach $10,000 for the erection of a public library building. In November of the same year, fitting ceremonies attended the laying of the cornerstone, and on May 7, 1914, the library was moved to its new home, a dignified structure faced with red tapestry brick, trimmed with a brick of light gray, and having a mission tile roof. It is 35 x 61 feet in size, and has a
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Huntington Beach, 1898 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Huntington Beach.
1901Southern 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 Huntington Beach.
Every building
Huntington Beach, building by building, 1909–1922
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.
The Huntington Beach post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Huntington Beach rank for history?
Huntington Beach is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #412 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 Huntington Beach?
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Newland House (listed 1985, the first), 1 historic district, the Huntington Beach Municipal Pier, with 3 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Huntington Beach?
1% of Huntington Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1974.
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), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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