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History · Lytle Creek

Lytle Creek’s post office opened in 1953

Most of Lytle Creek was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1963. Below: maps from 1901 on.

1953first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
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Photo: joedecruyenaere on Flickr · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Lytle Creek began

When was Lytle Creek founded?

1953

The Lytle Creek post office opened in 1953, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Glenn Ranch (1921), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 72573 years
Founding year: the first Lytle Creek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Lytle Creek’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lytle Creek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19014 editions of the USGS map, 1901 to 1982. Watch Lytle Creek change.Old housesHalf of Lytle Creek’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lytle Creek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lytle Creek’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Lytle Creek on the map, 1901 to 1982

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

Lytle Creek on the 1901 USGS mapLytle Creek on the 1953 USGS mapLytle Creek on the 1966 USGS mapLytle Creek on the 1982 USGS map1901Southern California Sheet No 1 sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lytle Creek.

The story

How Lytle Creek came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lytle Creek.

Read it all →

A group of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as Mormons, arrived in the valley in 1851, making camp at the mouth of a canyon with a creek, which flowed

briskly southeast through the canyon to the valley and the Santa Ana River. Overjoyed with the abundance of

water, the dense growth of willows, cottonwoods and sycamores and the mustard and wild oats that grew on

the hillsides, the settlers of San Bernardino named the stream "Lytle Creek" after their leader, Captain Andrew Lytle. Lytle

Creek Canyon has been a site for gold mining, farming and recreation activities such as fishing, camping,

picnicking, and hiking. It has been considered a recreational area since the early 1870s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lytle Creek, 1901 to 1953

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1921Post officeThe Glenn Ranch post office opens
  4. 1953Post officeThe Glenn Ranch post office closes
  5. 1953Post officeThe Lytle Creek post office opens
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Lytle Creek

Nobody well known was born in Lytle Creek itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jessica AlbaAmerican actress and businesswoman · b. 1981
Gene HackmanAmerican actor and novelist · b. 1930
Tom WaitsAmerican singer-songwriter and actor · b. 1949
Alex MorganAmerican soccer player · b. 1989
S
Shailene WoodleyAmerican actress · b. 1991
Landon DonovanAmerican soccer player · b. 1982
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Lytle Creek’s post office has been open since 1953. Another post office, Glenn Ranch, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Glenn Ranch
1921–1953
Lytle Creek
1953–today
19201970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Scotland

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Lytle Creek’s history

What year was Lytle Creek founded?

The Lytle Creek post office opened in 1953, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.