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CHistory
History · La Mirada

La Mirada’s post office opened in 1895, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #306 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of La Mirada was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1960. Its Register listing is the McNally's Windemere Ranch Headquarters. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1960.

1895first post office
1on the National Register
0.9%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
23famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From La Mirada’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How La Mirada began

When was La Mirada founded?

1895

The La Mirada post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 22,444 in 19602020 census: 48,008131 years

How historic is La Mirada?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first La Mirada post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives La Mirada’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, La Mirada is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #306 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of La Mirada’s overall grade.
Founding era1895, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.9% of homes (±0.5) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 3 historic buildings, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 64%

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 La Mirada’s 0.6 sits above most of its state (73% of California towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 (±0.5 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 La Mirada’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 La Mirada change.Famous sons and daughtersEric Winter, Jennie Finch and 21 more were born here.Old housesHalf of La Mirada’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start La Mirada’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Mirada’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewLa Mirada depot, from a 1903 publication: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

La Mirada on the map, 1896 to 1981

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

La Mirada on the 1896 USGS mapLa Mirada on the 1902 USGS mapLa Mirada on the 1923 USGS mapLa Mirada on the 1949 USGS mapLa Mirada on the 1951 USGS mapLa Mirada on the 1965 USGS mapLa Mirada on the 1972 USGS mapLa Mirada on the 1981 USGS map1896Downey 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 La Mirada.

Famous people

23 famous people were born in La Mirada

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
E
Eric WinterAmerican actor · b. 1976
Jennie FinchAmerican softball player · b. 1980
Mark R. HughesAmerican entrepreneur, founder and president of… · b. 1956
Gary AllanAmerican country singer · b. 1967
M
Matt WilligAmerican actor and American football player · b. 1969
D
Derby CarrilloSalvadoran footballer · b. 1987
The story

How La Mirada came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of La Mirada.

Read it all →

La Mirada (Spanish for the look) was the creation of two men, Andrew McNally, a printer and mapmaker from Chicago (see Rand McNally) and his son-in-law Edwin Neff. In 1888, McNally purchased over 2,200 acres (8.9 km2) of Rancho Los Coyotes, south of Whittier, for $200,000. He developed 700 acres (2.8 km2) of land into his own home, Windermere Ranch, which is now the site of Neff Park, and surrounded it with olive, orange, and lemon groves. McNally built a plant to process the best-quality olive oil, as well as a railroad station on Stage Road. From here, his olive oil and fruit were shipped all over the U.S.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

La Mirada, 1895 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe La Mirada post office opens
  3. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1903In the archiveLa Mirada depot, from a 1903 publication
  6. 1956Born hereMark R. Hughes is born here
  7. 1967Born hereGary Allan is born here
  8. 1976Born hereEric Winter is born here
  9. 1980Born hereJennie Finch is born here
By decade

La Mirada, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
La Mirada depot, from a 1903 publication1903La Mirada depot, from a 1903 publication
1910s–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 album
Today3 recent
Neff Historic House La Mirada 022026Neff Historic House La Mirada 02Neff Historic House La Mirada 012026Neff Historic House La Mirada 01La Mirada Library2024La Mirada Library
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.

La Mirada depot, from a 1903 publication
Retake this viewLa Mirada depot, from a 1903 publication, 1903

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in La Mirada

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
McNally's Windemere Ranch Headquarters
McNally's Windemere Ranch Headquarters
Buildings
All 1 listings
McNally's Windemere Ranch HeadquartersBuilding · listed 1978

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

La Mirada, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,0001960198020002020Peak: 48,527

Between 22,444 and 48,527 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

South WhittierIts storyC−East WhittierIts storyDSanta Fe Springs2 historic placesC+Buena ParkIts storyC−Fullerton23 historic placesB−

Questions about La Mirada’s history

What year was La Mirada founded?

The La Mirada post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does La Mirada rank for history?

La Mirada is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #306 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 La Mirada?

One place: the McNally's Windemere Ranch Headquarters (listed 1978).

How old are the homes in La Mirada?

0.9% of La Mirada’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1960.

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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.