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History · Alta Sierra

Alta Sierra’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Alta Sierra. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Alta Sierra is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kern County, California. It is located 8.5 miles (14 km) east of Glennville, at an elevation of 5,718 feet (1,743 m) in the Greenhorn Mountains/Sierra Nevada foothills. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Alta Sierra as a census-designated place (CDP).

Half of its homes were built before 1961.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alta Sierra yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Alta Sierra’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people close to Alta Sierra

See all 1 →
Ryan ClarkRyan ClarkWoody · 15 mi
By decade

Alta Sierra, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Alta Sierra is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Alta Sierra has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Big Creek Hydroelectric System Historic District in Richgrove, 23.4 miles away.

Alta Sierra and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Alta Sierra. Tap a dot.
Big Creek Hydroelectric System Historic District

Closest to Alta Sierra

Big Creek Hydroelectric System Historic DistrictRichgrove · District23.4mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Big Creek Hydroelectric System Historic District’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Alta Sierra?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Alta Sierra’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Porterville📜 Bakersfield📜 McFarland📜 Arvin
We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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