17% of West Hollywood’s homes were built before 1940
More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #14 of 847 in California. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 8 buildings. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1960.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Hollywood is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #14 of 847 in California. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Hollywood’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 West Hollywood’s 5.2 sits above most of its state (88% of California towns have fewer) while its 18 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.0 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 West Hollywood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Hollywood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1896Santa Monica 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 West Hollywood.
On the National Register
7 historic places in West Hollywood
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
The land that is now West Hollywood lies within the traditional territory of the Tongva, who inhabited the Los Angeles Basin for centuries before European contact. Spanish colonization of Alta California began in the late eighteenth century; the Portolá expedition of 1769–1770, an overland Spanish reconnaissance from San Diego to Monterey led by Gaspar de Portolá, passed through the Los Angeles Basin in August 1769. Near what would later become West Hollywood, the party collected pitch (Spanish brea) from natural tar seeps, which they used to waterproof gear. The Spanish mission system that followed reclassified the Tongva as "Gabrielinos" after the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, and by 1771 introduced European diseases had severely reduced the indigenous population. Here they collected pitch (brea in Spanish) from tar pits which they used to waterproof their belongings and to say Mass. …
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
West Hollywood is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #14 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 West Hollywood?
7 listings: 6 buildings, among them the R. M. Schindler House (listed 1971, the first), and 1 historic district, the North Harper Avenue Historic District, with 8 contributing buildings. 18 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in West Hollywood?
17% of West Hollywood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (5), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (9), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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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