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DHistory
History · Yucaipa

Yucaipa’s post office opened in 1908

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns · #670 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Yucaipa was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1899 on and the census since 1970.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jessie Terwilliger from Beaumont, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0
Quick answers

How Yucaipa began

When was Yucaipa founded?

1908

The Yucaipa post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1989. Another post office, Yucaipe (1893), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 19,284 in 19702020 census: 54,542118 years

How historic is Yucaipa?

D

More historic than 11% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Yucaipa post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1989.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Yucaipa’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yucaipa is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #670 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Yucaipa’s overall grade.
Founding era1908, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19403.4% of homes (±2.4) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 11%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 21%

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 Yucaipa’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 C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1989.

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 Yucaipa’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 Yucaipa are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18997 editions of the USGS map, 1899 to 1996. Watch Yucaipa change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Yucaipa’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Yucaipa on the map, 1899 to 1996

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

Yucaipa on the 1899 USGS mapYucaipa on the 1901 USGS mapYucaipa on the 1954 USGS mapYucaipa on the 1967 USGS mapYucaipa on the 1973 USGS mapYucaipa on the 1980 USGS mapYucaipa on the 1996 USGS map1899Redlands 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 Yucaipa.

The story

How Yucaipa came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Yucaipa.

Read it all →

Prior to the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the arrival of European settlers from Mexico, the Yucaipa Valley was known as Yukaipa't, which meant "green valley" in the Serrano American Language. The land was home to the Serrano Native Americans for thousands of years. Today, some of their descendants are enrolled in the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Two male settlers had "discovered" The City of Yucaipa. The land was untouched. with orange groves, from end to end.

ChaptersYucaipa Adobe21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Yucaipa, 1893 to 1991

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893Post officeThe Yucaipe post office opens
  3. 1896Post officeThe Yucaipe post office closes
  4. 1899On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Yucaipa post office opens
  7. 1991Born hereMatt Davidson is born here
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.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
People over time

Yucaipa, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00019802000202054,542

Grew from 19,284 people in 1970 to 54,542 in 2020.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Yucaipa’s post office has been open since 1908. Another post office, Yucaipe, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Yucaipe
1893–1896
Yucaipa
1908–today
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dunlap AcresNorth Bench
Gone or out of use
Crafton Hills Airportairport

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Redlands12 historic placesB+Oak GlenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCalimesaIts storyDMentone1 historic placeC+

Questions about Yucaipa’s history

What year was Yucaipa founded?

The Yucaipa post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1989.

How does Yucaipa rank for history?

Yucaipa is more historic than 11% of U.S. towns, #670 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 Yucaipa?

3% of Yucaipa’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.4 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1978.

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).

From 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.