More historic than 3% of U.S. towns · #824 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Thousand Palms was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1941 on, and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Thousand Palms post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Thousand Palms’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thousand Palms is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #824 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 Thousand Palms’ 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 Thousand Palms’ 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 (±0.5 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 Thousand Palms’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
This area was previously known as 100 Palm Spring, as seen on 1874 maps and an official Land Office map dating to 1891. The post office was established in 1915, and the area was named Edom, California after the ancient Asian nation. However, in 1919, a residents petition was carried out and the name was changed to Thousand Palms.
The location had a post office called Edom in 1913. The post office was moved in 1938 and then renamed "Thousand Palms" in 1939.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Thousand Palms. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1941Edom 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 Thousand Palms.
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.
Retake this viewPalm Springs CA (and Palm Springs airport) Cathedral City CA, and Thousand Palms CA, seen from air
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Thousand Palms’ page.
The Thousand Palms post office opened in 1939, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Thousand Palms rank for history?
Thousand Palms is more historic than 3% of U.S. towns, #824 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 Thousand Palms?
0.0% of Thousand Palms’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 (8), 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.
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