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History · Aguilar

Aguilar’s post office opened in 1890, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers from 1940 on.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Aguilar’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Aguilar began

When was Aguilar founded?

1890

The Aguilar post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 456136 years
Founding year: the first Aguilar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Aguilar’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Aguilar’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewColorado [Adams County - Las Animas Cou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Aguilar came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Aguilar.

Read it all →

In 1864, a trading post called San Antonio Plaza was created by Agapito Ribali (sometimes misspelled as Rivali or Ruballi) at the current site of the town. The San Antonio post office was established in 1875, and at some point the settlement was renamed to Schultz Plaza after William Schultz, builder of the first store in the settlement. In 1879, J. Ramón Aguilar came to the area and bought the land in and around the settlement. The Aguilar, Colorado, post office opened on December 16, 1890, and the Town of Aguilar was incorporated on January 18, 1894, named after the owner of the land.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Aguilar, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s3 items
Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]Housing in town. Many coal miners live in this city. Aguilar, Las Animas County, Colorado1946Housing in town. Many coal miners live in this city. …Main street of town which is main shopping center for local miners. Aguilar, Las Animas County, Colorado1946Main street of town which is main shopping center for…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Apishapa River2018Apishapa RiverAguilar, Colorado welcome sign2018Aguilar, Colorado welcome signCOMap-doton-Aguilar2005COMap-doton-Aguilar
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
Retake this viewColorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)], 1940

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Aguilar’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Aguilar

Nobody well known was born in Aguilar itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Snatam KaurAmerican singer-songwriter · b. 1972
Erskine SanfordAmerican actor · b. 1885
E
Erick HawkinsAmerican dancer and choreographer · b. 1909
John Edgar ChenowethAmerican politician · b. 1897
Matthew G. MartínezUnited States Marine · b. 1929
Xavier AtencioAmerican animator · b. 1919
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Aguilar’s post office has been open since 1890.

Gone or out of use
Healy Strip Minemine

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Aguilar’s history

What year was Aguilar founded?

The Aguilar post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.