Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1933.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Laguna Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Laguna Beach is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #72 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Laguna Beach’s overall grade.
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 Laguna Beach’s 4.0 sits above most of its state (86% of California towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1887.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Laguna Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Laguna Beach was the site of a prehistoric paleoindian civilization. In 1933, the first fossilized skull of a paleoindian found in California was uncovered during construction on St. Ann's Drive. Known as "Laguna Woman", the skull originally was radiocarbon dated to more than 17,000 BP, but revised measurements suggest it originated during the Holocene era, 11,700 years BP. Subsequent research has found several prehistoric encampment sites in the area.
Passages that mention Laguna Beach, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 589Read the page →
Read the text
In October, 1914, Joseph R. Jahraus organized the Laguna Beach Lumber Company, being president of the same, and except for the period of his overseas service he has served continuously as manager of the business. Their shipping station is at Irvine, on the Santa Fe Railroad, and all lumber is hauled by truck to Laguna Beach.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Orange County, California1921 · page 277Read the page →
Read the text
For many years, Mr. Wendt has been associated with the art development at Laguna Beach, having painted in that locality for the last seventeen years, and in 1918 he erected a well-planned studio at Arch Beach about a mile south of Laguna Beach, on the Coast. The studio is more than a working place, it is a retreat from the humdrum of everyday activities, for Mr. Wendt feels he has found at Laguna the opportunity for seclusion sought for during many years, and he expects here to comnlete many of his dreamed-of pictures, and to accomplish the height of his ambition.
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
Laguna Beach, 1887 to 1986
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.
In 1887, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Laguna Beach’s post office opened in 1933, and the census of 1930 counted 1,981 people here.
How does Laguna Beach rank for history?
Laguna Beach is more historic than 66% of U.S. towns, #72 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 Laguna Beach?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Mariona (listed 1984, the first). 9 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Laguna Beach?
16% of Laguna Beach’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 1964.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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 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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