More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #810 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Ridgecrest was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1950.
The Ridgecrest post office opened in 1941, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, China Lake (1948), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 2,028 in 19502020 census: 27,95985 years
How historic is Ridgecrest?
D−
More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Ridgecrest post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ridgecrest’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ridgecrest is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #810 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ridgecrest’s overall grade.
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 Ridgecrest’s 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Ridgecrest’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Native American tribes of the Paiute, Shoshone, and Kawaiisu thrived in the Indian Wells Valley. The Shoshone tribe left behind petroglyphs in the Coso Range that can be found in Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons. Their petroglyphs and artwork are displayed in the Maturango Museum and Petroglyph Park.
During the mid-1800s, travelers began crossing through the Indian Wells Valley. In 1826, Jedediah Smith's beaver trappers arrived, followed in 1834 by Joseph Walker when he crossed Walker Pass into the Indian Wells Valley. Throughout the rest of the nineteenth century, mining booms brought more settlers to the valley. In the 1880s, Chinese railroad workers briefly settled in the area, giving local China Lake its name.
The Ridgecrest post office opened in 1941, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ridgecrest rank for history?
Ridgecrest is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #810 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.
How old are the homes in Ridgecrest?
0.2% of Ridgecrest’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (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.
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