RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Big Bear (aka 'Big Bear City') ...

Big Bear is located in San Bernardino County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Big Bear, you might consider that their post office opened in 1928.

Big Bear is 6,770 feet [2,063 m] above sea level.<2> In other words, the altitude of Big Bear is about 1¼ mile [or ~2 km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Big Bear lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Big Bear: 909 & 840<3>

The ZIP code for Big Bear: 92314<4>

The community of Big Bear has also been called Big Bear City.

Communities near Big Bear ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Big Bear.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Big Bear. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Big Bear.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Big Bear. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Bear.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Bear. See our Newspapers Page for Big Bear.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Big Bear ...

Looking for more information about Big Bear? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Big Bear, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Big Bear.

Adding Big Bear to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Big Bear in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Big Bear was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Big Bear post office opened in 1928.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Big Bear.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of California's counties, including San Bernardino, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Big Bear - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 909 code has been Overlayed with the 840 area code. New phone numbers in the Big Bear area will be assigned with one of these codes: 909 or 840. As a result, placing a call in the Big Bear area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Big Bear). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Big Bear or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/