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History · Palo Verde

Palo Verde’s post office opened in 1903, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1945 on and the census since 2000.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Palo Verde began, and where its name came from

When was Palo Verde founded?

1903

The Palo Verde post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 236 in 20002020 census: 152123 years

How did Palo Verde get its name?

Palo Verde’s name comes from the native desert tree, Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida), which in turn takes its name from the Spanish words for stick (palo) and green (verde), and shares its name with the Palo Verde Valley, the valley in which it is located.

Founding year: the first Palo Verde post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What stands out about Palo Verde’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 Palo Verde are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Palo Verde’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Palo Verde’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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The story so far

Palo Verde, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Palo Verde yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Palo Verde (Spanish for "Green Stick"; Mojave: Hanyomalivah) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Imperial County, California. Its name comes from the native desert tree, Palo Verde (Parkinsonia florida), which in turn takes its name from the Spanish words for stick (palo) and green (verde), and shares its name with the Palo Verde Valley, the valley in which it is located. As of the 2020 census, Palo Verde had a population of 152. The Imperial County line passes just north of the town. A community named Ripley, in Riverside County lies along SR78 between Blythe and Palo Verde. The ZIP Code for the community is 92266 and there is no postal delivery; residents use post office boxes. There is…

Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 171 to 152 (-11%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

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.

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On the map

Palo Verde on the map, 1945 to 1975

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

Palo Verde on the 1945 USGS mapPalo Verde on the 1952 USGS mapPalo Verde on the 1965 USGS mapPalo Verde on the 1975 USGS map1945Cibola 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 Palo Verde.

People over time

Palo Verde, census by census

010020020002020Peak: 236

Between 152 and 236 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Questions about Palo Verde’s history

What year was Palo Verde founded?

The Palo Verde post office opened in 1903, 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 →
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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 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.