Inyo County, California
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 19 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1966; 3 are also National Historic Landmarks. Most listings are in or near Death Valley, Olancha, Little Lake.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for California is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Inyo titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP2 of 19 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
19 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Archeological Site CA-INY-134 | Olancha | 2003 |
| Coso Hot Springs | Little Lake | 1978 |
| Coso Rock Art District NHL | China Lake | 1999 |
| Coso Rock District NHL | China Lake | 1966 |
| Death Valley Junction Historic District | Death Valley Junction | 1980 |
| Death Valley Scotty Historic District | Olancha | 1978 |
| Eagle Borax Works | Furnace Creek | 1974 |
| Fossil Falls Archeological District | Little Lake | 1980 |
| Harmony Borax Works | Stovepipe Wells | 1974 |
| Inyo County Courthouse | Independence | 1998 |
| Laws Narrow Gauge Railroad Historic District | Bishop | 1981 |
| Leadfield | Death Valley | 1975 |
| Manzanar War Relocation Center, National Historic Site NHL | Independence | 1976 |
| Patsiata Tübiji Nüümü-na Awaedu Ananisudüheina (Patsiata Historic District) | Lone Pine | 2025 |
| Pawona Witu | Bishop | 1975 |
| Reilly | Trona | 2004 |
| Ryan Historic District | Death Valley | 2025 |
| Saline Valley Salt Tram Historic Structure | Keeler | 1974 |
| Skidoo | Death Valley | 1974 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBInyo was formed in 1866 (1866-03-22) from both MONO, Tulare.
INYO created from both MONO and TULARE. INYO boundaries were identical to those of COSO (proposed) [see 4 April 1864].
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusInyo County population from 1870 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1870 | 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,956 | 2,928 | 4,377 | 7,031 | 7,625 | 11,658 | 11,684 | 17,895 | 17,945 | 19,016 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
National Park Service sites nearby
NPSPark units within about 40 km of the county centroid (from NPS Public POIs; no API key).
| Site | Type | Dist. |
|---|---|---|
| Death Valley National Park | Park unit | 29.4 km |
Source: NPS National Datasets / Public POIs. The NPS Developer API requires a free key and was not used.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS14 cemeteries and 14 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 14 of 14 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Big Pine Cemetery |
| Dayton Harris Grave Monument |
| East Line Cemetery |
| Grave of 1872 Earthquake Victims |
| Independence Cemetery |
| Indian Cemetery |
| Jean Lemoigne Grave |
| Mount Whitney Cemetery |
| Old Independence Cemetery |
| Old Lone Pine Cemetery |
| Pioneer Cemetery |
| Pioneer Cemetery |
| Sunland Cemetery |
| Tecopa Cemetery |
Historical populated places — 14 of 14
| Name |
|---|
| Ashford Mill |
| Chloride City |
| Chrysopolis |
| Elna |
| Furnace |
| Greenwater |
| Lane Mill |
| Lila C |
| Lookout City |
| Millspaugh |
| Reilly |
| Schwaub |
| Skidoo |
| Sunland |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Inyo County, California
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