Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #71 of 847 in California. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Pearlman Mountain Cabin and the Donaldson Futuro. Most of Idyllwild-Pine Cove was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1980.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Idyllwild-Pine Cove is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #71 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Idyllwild-Pine Cove’s 5.1 sits above most of its state (88% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Idyllwild-Pine Cove’s history is told.
Another post office, Idlewild, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Idyllwild-Pine Cove.
Idyllwild was once the summer home for bands of Cahuilla Indians, who migrated there to escape the heat of lower-elevation deserts. The Cahuilla's grinding slabs can still be seen in Idyllwild.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Idyllwild-Pine Cove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Idyllwild-Pine Cove.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 2,853 and 4,163 people in every census since 1980.
5 censuses, 1980–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Idyllwild-Pine Cove’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Idyllwild-Pine Cove is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #71 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.
Two places: the Pearlman Mountain Cabin (listed 2016) and the Donaldson Futuro (2021).
10% of Idyllwild-Pine Cove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1969.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.
