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History · Bonanza

Bonanza’s post office opened in 1875

Most of Bonanza was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 1 old photo or paper.

1875first post office
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
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From Bonanza’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bonanza began

When was Bonanza founded?

1875

The Bonanza post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1901.

2020 census: 404151 years
Founding year: the first Bonanza post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1901.The full story ↓

What stands out about Bonanza’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bonanza’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGerber Dam: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Bonanza came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bonanza.

Read it all →

The town, in a farming district, was named after the Spanish word for prosperity (literally smooth sea), apparently because of the good springs found nearby. The Bonanza post office was established in 1875.

J. P. Roberts founded the community in 1876 and opened a store there. Bonanza was formally platted in 1878. By around 1900, it was considered the third most important town in Klamath County, after Klamath Falls and Merrill. Daily mail arrived by stagecoach. The chief products of the region were cattle, horses, grain, hay, fruits, and vegetables.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bonanza, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Gerber DamDate?Gerber Dam
Today5 recent
Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - ff662fb08c02d74f9257ec450533788c2009Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - ff662fb08c02d74f9257e…Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - b5d1ad2069e760bba2a6ae5a74471d892009Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - b5d1ad2069e760bba2a6a…Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - af9fd3b88c290f832312c59d56fadf2c2009Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - af9fd3b88c290f832312c…Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - 2ed074d56bcd6fd33f496563bc56d0ae2009Nichols Cabin, Bonanza - DPLA - 2ed074d56bcd6fd33f496…ORMap-doton-Bonanza2004ORMap-doton-Bonanza
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.

Gerber Dam
Retake this viewGerber Dam

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

Retake this view · +15

Questions about Bonanza’s history

What year was Bonanza founded?

The Bonanza post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1901.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.