Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Ocotillo was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 2000.
The Ocotillo post office opened in 1957, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Ocotillo’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Ocotillo.
Ocotillo is located on a site that originally sat on the edge of ancient Lake Cahuilla and is the traditional territory of the Kumeyaay. The town originated as a retirement community. The post office was opened in 1957. In March 2012, a museum, the Imperial Valley Desert Museum opened in Ocotillo after many years of fundraising and construction.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ocotillo. 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 Ocotillo.
Between 215 and 296 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ocotillo’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Ocotillo itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Ocotillo post office opened in 1957, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikipedia, 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.
