The story
Read it all →How Huntington Park came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Huntington Park.
The first European to arrive to the area was Francisco Salvatore Lugo.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Jmiles92 · CC BY-SA 3.0CHistory
History · Huntington Park
Huntington Park’s post office opened in 1906, and 28% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #299 of 847 in California. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1910.
1906first post office
0on the National Register
28%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
21famous people
Quick answers
How Huntington Park began
When was Huntington Park founded?
1906
The Huntington Park post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, La Park (1904), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,299 in 19102020 census: 54,883120 years
How historic is Huntington Park?
C
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Huntington Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Huntington Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Huntington Park is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #299 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Huntington Park’s overall grade.
Founding era1906, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194027.5% of homes (±2.5) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%A−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 34%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 65%
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 Park’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 B. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 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 Park’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.On the map since 18968 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1981. Watch Huntington Park change.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1910 to 1924, drew every building in Huntington Park.Famous sons and daughtersHector Jiménez, Danny Weis and 19 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Huntington Park’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Huntington Park’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the map
Huntington Park on the map, 1896 to 1981
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Huntington Park. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1896Downey 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 Huntington Park.
Every building
Huntington Park, building by building, 1910–1924
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.
1910Sheet 1 of 9Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Huntington Park, 1896 to 1988
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1896
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 20th century
- 1904Post officeThe La Park post office opens
- 1906Post officeThe La Park post office closes
- 1906Post officeThe Huntington Park post office opens
- 1924Born hereLois Andrews is born here
- 1944
Born hereElton Gallegly is born here - 1948Born hereDanny Weis is born here
- 1988
Born hereHector Jiménez is born here
By decade
Huntington Park, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?
2018
2017
2017
2012
2010Then & 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 viewLower Los Angeles River (near Huntington Park), looking northwest from Firestone Boulevard Bridge, showing completed...…
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Huntington Park’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Huntington Park, census by census
Between 1,299 and 61,348 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Huntington Park’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →21 famous people were born in Huntington Park
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and places now gone
Huntington Park’s post office has been open since 1906. Another post office, La Park, opened and closed inside today’s town.
La Park
Huntington Park
19001960today
Gone or out of use
California Theatrebuilding
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Huntington Park’s history
What year was Huntington Park founded?
The Huntington Park post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Huntington Park rank for history?
Huntington Park is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #299 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 Huntington Park?
28% of Huntington Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 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.
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 (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 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.