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DHistory
History · Isla Vista

Half of Isla Vista’s homes were built after 1975

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #655 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Isla Vista was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1942 on, and the census since 1970.

0on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Isla Vista’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Isla Vista’s history

How historic is Isla Vista?

D

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Isla Vista’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Isla Vista is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #655 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Isla Vista’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19401.4% of homes (±1.4) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational 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 11%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 23%

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 Isla Vista’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size.

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 →

What stands out about Isla Vista’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 23,096 in 2010; 15,500 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Isla Vista’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Isla Vista’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHalloween on DP: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Isla Vista, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,000198020002020Peak: 23,096

Peaked at 23,096 in 2010; 15,500 people lived here in 2020.

5 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

The story

How Isla Vista came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Isla Vista.

Read it all →

The earliest human occupants of Isla Vista were the Chumash or their forebears. They called the Isla Vista mesa Anisq'oyo (related to the Chumash word for "manzanita") and had permanent settlements near Cheadle Hall and the 217 entrance on the UCSB Campus; these villages were collectively called Heliyik. Eventually the Franciscan Fathers forced the Chumash to move to the Santa Barbara Mission.

ChaptersEarly daysWorld War IIUniversity1960s and 1970s1980s and later

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Isla Vista, 1942 to 2010

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1942On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1979Born hereUrijah Faber is born here
  4. 21st century
  5. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 23,096
By decade

Isla Vista, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Halloween on DPDate?Halloween on DP
Today23 recent
Low Tide, Sunset2022Low Tide, SunsetAerial photograph of Campus Point, Isla Vista, Santa Barbara, CA2022Aerial photograph of Campus Point, Isla Vista, Santa …Isla Vista Surfer by Don Green2017Isla Vista Surfer by Don GreenIsla Vista Pacific Coast California2016Isla Vista Pacific Coast CaliforniaWORD Magazine bench, red2015WORD Magazine bench, redOil warning sign in2015Oil warning sign inIsla Vista, California2015Isla Vista, CaliforniaIsla Vista, California2015Isla Vista, CaliforniaIsla Vista, California2015Isla Vista, CaliforniaIsla Vista Free Box2015Isla Vista Free BoxIsla Vista Mass Murder - May 23, 2014 - Investigative Summary2015Isla Vista Mass Murder - May 23, 2014 - Investigative…BookSunset in Isla Vista April 20142014Sunset in Isla Vista April 2014Surfers And Platform Holly At Sunset2013Surfers And Platform Holly At SunsetIsla Vista, CA (2013) 032013Isla Vista, CA (2013) 03Isla Vista, CA (2013) 022013Isla Vista, CA (2013) 02WORD Magazine bench2011WORD Magazine benchIsla Vista surfer and skateboarder mural2011Isla Vista surfer and skateboarder muralSan Clemente Evening2009San Clemente EveningKevin Moran plaque2009Kevin Moran plaqueAerial-GoletaArea2009Aerial-GoletaAreaAerial-GoletaArea (cropped)2009Aerial-GoletaArea (cropped)Isla Vista Sunset12006Isla Vista Sunset1WelcomeToIslaVista2005WelcomeToIslaVista
On the map

Isla Vista on the map, 1942 to 1995

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

Isla Vista on the 1942 USGS mapIsla Vista on the 1950 USGS mapIsla Vista on the 1967 USGS mapIsla Vista on the 1976 USGS mapIsla Vista on the 1982 USGS mapIsla Vista on the 1995 USGS map1942Goleta 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 Isla Vista.

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.

Halloween on DP
Retake this viewHalloween on DP

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Isla Vista’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

University of California-Santa BarbaraIts storyD

Questions about Isla Vista’s history

How does Isla Vista rank for history?

Isla Vista is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #655 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 Isla Vista?

1% of Isla Vista’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1975.

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 (24), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.