Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #316 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Los Alamitos was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the St. Isidore Catholic Church. Below: maps from 1896 on and the census since 1960.
Los Alamitos dates its founding to 1896 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1960.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Los Alamitos is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #316 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 Los Alamitos’ 1.7 sits above most of its state (79% of California towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →
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 Los Alamitos’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Los Alamitos. 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 Los Alamitos.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
From Wikipedia’s history of Los Alamitos.
The Tongva inhabited the area before the city was established, and Rancho Los Alamitos was known as the village of Puvunga. The area is still sacred to the Tongva people.
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.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBorn hereRalph Flanagan is born hereBorn hereDejah Mulipola is born hereFire 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.
1898Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Grew from 4,312 people in 1960 to 11,780 in 2020.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Los Alamitos’ Wikipedia page.
Los Alamitos’s post office has been open since 1897.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1896, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Los Alamitos’ post office opened in 1897, and the census of 1960 counted 4,312 people here.
Los Alamitos is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #316 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.
One place: the St. Isidore Catholic Church (listed 2022).
0.5% of Los Alamitos’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1970.
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 Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), 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), 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.
2026
2025
2024
2024
2024