The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Ocotillo is located on a site that originally sat on the edge of ancient Lake Cahuilla and is the traditional territory of the Kumeyaay. The town originated as a retirement community. The post office was opened in 1957. In March 2012, a museum, the Imperial Valley Desert Museum opened in Ocotillo after many years of fundraising and construction.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Be one of the first
Start Ocotillo’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ocotillo’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10By decade
Ocotillo, decade by decade
Before
2000
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 albumNational Register of Historic Places
Nothing in Ocotillo is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Ocotillo has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Desert View Tower in Jacumba, 8.1 miles away.
Ocotillo and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Ocotillo. Tap a dot.
Closest to Ocotillo
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. Desert View Tower’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Ocotillo?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Ocotillo’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old placeNational 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.