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History · Yermo

Yermo’s post office opened in 1905

Most of Yermo was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1956. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1953 on.

1905first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Yermo’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Yermo began

When was Yermo founded?

1905

The Yermo post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 623121 years
Founding year: the first Yermo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Yermo’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Yermo’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Yermo’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCalifornia - Golden State through High …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Yermo, in brief

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

Yermo (Spanish for "wilderness" or "wasteland") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California. It is 13 miles (21 km) east of Barstow on Interstate 15, just south of the Calico Mountains. As of the 2020 census, Yermo had a population of 623. Founded in 1902 and originally named Otis, Yermo is situated at a division point of the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, later the Union Pacific Railroad line. A post office was established three years later with William J. Flavin serving as Yermo's first postmaster. It later developed around serving motorists traveling the Arrowhead Trail (later U.S. Route 91), which ran through…

Its first post office opened in 1905.

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

Timeline

Yermo, 1905 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1905Post officeThe Yermo post office opens
  3. 1917In the archiveCalifornia - Golden State through High Head Reservoir
  4. 1920In the archiveUnion Pacific Depot, Yermo, CA postcard
  5. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1980In the archiveCalico Ghost Town
By decade

Yermo, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s2 items
California - Golden State through High Head Reservoir1917California - Golden State through High Head ReservoirUnion Pacific Depot, Yermo, CA postcardc. 1920Union Pacific Depot, Yermo, CA postcardPostcard
1930s–1970snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1980s2 items
Calico Ghost Town1980Calico Ghost TownCalico Ghost Town1980Calico Ghost Town
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
Yermo, CA. 20162016Yermo, CA. 2016Yermo, CA. 20162016Yermo, CA. 2016Yermo, CA2016Yermo, CAYermo, CA2016Yermo, CAFormerly Del Taco. Yermo, CA2014Formerly Del Taco. Yermo, CACalicoVisitorCenter 85212010CalicoVisitorCenter 8521Starr 071227-1103 Tamarix sp2007Starr 071227-1103 Tamarix spMarine Corps Logistics Base Barstow annexes2007Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow annexes
On the map

Yermo on the map, 1953 to 1970

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

Yermo on the 1953 USGS mapYermo on the 1970 USGS map1953Yermo sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

California - Golden State through High Head Reservoir
Retake this viewCalifornia - Golden State through High Head Reservoir, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Yermo

Nobody well known was born in Yermo itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jeanne CrainAmerican actress · b. 1925
M
Miko HughesAmerican actor · b. 1986
M
Megan JastrabAmerican cyclist · b. 2002
Stan RidgwayAmerican singer-songwriter and film and televis… · b. 1954
K
Kyle SmaineAmerican freestyle skier · b. 1991
Paul SalopekAmerican newspaper editor · b. 1962

Questions about Yermo’s history

What year was Yermo founded?

The Yermo post office opened in 1905, 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 →
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.