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DHistory
History · Palm Desert

Palm Desert’s post office opened in 1947, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #613 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Palm Desert was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Its Register listing is the Miles C. Bates House. Its Register listing is the Miles C. Bates House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1980.

1947first post office
1on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Palm Desert’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Palm Desert began

When was Palm Desert founded?

1947

The Palm Desert post office opened in 1947, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1973.

First census: 11,801 in 19802020 census: 51,16379 years

How historic is Palm Desert?

D

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Palm Desert post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1973.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Palm Desert’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palm Desert is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #613 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Palm Desert’s overall grade.
Founding era1947, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.3) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical CA town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 28%

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 Palm Desert’s 0.2 sits above most of its state (65% of California towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1973 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Palm Desert’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palm Desert’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Palm Desert’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old view(Memorial Community Walk): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Palm Desert came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palm Desert.

Read it all →

Palm Desert is in the ancestral homeland of two now-extinct Cahuilla tribes - the Las Palmas band and the San Cayetano band - of the Cahuilla people, who are nowadays organized as a division of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

The area was first known as the Old MacDonald Ranch before the name changed to Palm Village in the 1920s when date palm groves were planted. That original tract is today referred to as the Palma Village neighborhood in the central part of the city. Most of the pre–World War II residents of Palm Desert were Cahuilla farmers of the San Cayetano band. The Montoya family of Cahuilla and Spanish descent were prominent civic leaders in the early years of Palm Desert.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palm Desert, 1941 to 1991

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1947Post officeThe Palm Desert post office opens
  4. 1954Born hereJack Blades is born here
  5. 1980Born hereDavid Wachs is born here
  6. 1991Born hereD. J. Alexander is born here
By decade

Palm Desert, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
(Memorial Community Walk)Date?(Memorial Community Walk)
Today3 recent
"The Dreamer" sculpture, by David Phelps2013"The Dreamer" sculpture, by David PhelpsPalm trees and sculpture in the Southern California desert [Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden]2012Palm trees and sculpture in the Southern California d…Palm trees in the Southern California desert [Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden]2012Palm trees in the Southern California desert [Faye Sa…
On the map

Palm Desert on the map, 1941 to 1959

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

Palm Desert on the 1941 USGS mapPalm Desert on the 1959 USGS map1941Toro Peak sheet · 1:62,500

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

(Memorial Community Walk)
Retake this view(Memorial Community Walk)

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Palm Desert’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Palm Desert

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2018
Miles C. Bates House
Miles C. Bates House
Buildings
Miles C. Bates HouseBuilding

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Palm Desert, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00019802000202051,163

Grew from 11,801 people in 1980 to 51,163 in 2020, 4 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Palm Desert’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Palm Desert

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Jack BladesAmerican musician · b. 1954
D
David WachsAmerican actor · b. 1980
Brian O'ConnorAmerican bassist
D
D. J. AlexanderAmerican football linebacker · b. 1991
T
Thomas DeMarcoPlayer of American and Canadian football · b. 1989
Ian Flannon TaylorAmerican musician
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Palm Desert’s post office has been open since 1947.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Palm Desert CountrySilver Spur Mobile Manor
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Palm Desert
Hope Lutheran Church ColumbariumSaint Margaret's Episcopal Church Columbarium

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Indian Wells1 historic placeC−Rancho Mirage1 historic placeC−Thousand PalmsIts storyD−Bermuda DunesIts storyD

Questions about Palm Desert’s history

What year was Palm Desert founded?

The Palm Desert post office opened in 1947, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1973.

How does Palm Desert rank for history?

Palm Desert is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #613 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 Palm Desert?

One place: the Miles C. Bates House (listed 2018).

How old are the homes in Palm Desert?

0.5% of Palm Desert’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (3), 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) 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.