Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #518 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Mammoth Lakes was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1880.
Mammoth Lakes first appears in the census in 1880. Two smaller post offices, Mammoth (1879) and Lake Mary (1944), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mammoth Lakes is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #518 of 847 in California. Its age holds 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 Mammoth Lakes’ 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.
Founding year: the first census (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 Mammoth Lakes’s history is told.
Mammoth Lakes’s post office has been open since 1923. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Mammoth Lakes.
The Mono people were the first settlers of the Mammoth Lakes area, thousands of years ago. They settled in the valley but traveled by foot to other areas when trading with different tribes.
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 Survey
2012Skiers at Mammoth Lakes, California
2012Ski slope
2012Houses
2012Houses
2012Woolly Mammoth sculpture at Mammoth Lakes, California
2012Mammoth Mountain ski area
2012Mammoth Mountain ski area
2012Skiing on Mammoth Mountain. Mammoth Lakes, California
2012Snowboarder
2012Snowboarders
2012Skiers
2012Skiers
2012Snowboarders
2012Skier
2012Snowboarders
2012Trees
2012Trees
2012Trees
2012Trees
2012Trees
2012Forest
2012Woolly Mammoth sculpture
2012Mammoth Lakes, CaliforniaEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mammoth Lakes. 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 Mammoth Lakes.
Between 473 and 8,234 people in every census since 1880.
6 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mammoth Lakes’ Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The Mammoth Lakes post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1984.
Mammoth Lakes is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #518 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.
2% of Mammoth Lakes’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 the Library of Congress (23), 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.
