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The Commemorative
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The Commemorative Quarter for California





Welcome to Imperial ...

The city of Imperial is located in Imperial County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Imperial, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1901.

The city was incorporated July 12, 1904.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Imperial has a population of 19,034 people<2> (see below for details).

Imperial is near sea level<3>.

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

Note: If you travel east from Imperial (for example, toward Yuma (AZ)), you will leave Pacific Time and cross into the Mountain Standard Time Zone (MST). In addition, you will be moving from an area that observes daylight saving time to one that does not.

Area Codes for Imperial: 760 & 442<4>

The ZIP code for Imperial: 92251<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Imperial had an population of 19,034 people. This is an increase of 28.97% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 151.77% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Imperial had a population of 14,758 people (or 8.45% of the total population of Imperial County). This makes Imperial the county's 4th most populous community.

The population of Imperial represents 0.04% of the total population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 324th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 14,758 people, the population of Imperial increased 95.21% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 7,560 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Imperial.

Communities Also Named Imperial ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 13 communities that are also named Imperial - they are located in Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania (2), Saskatchewan, Texas (2), Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Imperial.

Websites for Imperial ...

Official Website: www.imperial.ca.gov/

Communities near Imperial ...

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

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

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

We're compiling a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Imperial. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Imperial.

We have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Imperial. Our list includes 8 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Imperial.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Imperial ...

Looking for more information about Imperial? 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 Imperial, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Imperial.

Adding Imperial to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Imperial 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 for Imperial was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the Imperial post office opened in 1901.

We also found Imperial mentioned on a train schedule titled Southern Pacific Railroad Time Tables (March 1908).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Imperial.

The official website for Imperial: www.imperial.ca.gov/

The official website for Imperial County: www.co.imperial.ca.us/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of California's counties, including Imperial, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Imperial.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Imperial - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>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 760 code has been Overlayed with the 442 area code. New phone numbers in the Imperial area will be assigned with one of these codes: 760 or 442. As a result, placing a call in the Imperial area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>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 city (such as Imperial). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Imperial or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

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




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025