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B+History
History · Akron

Akron dates to 1882, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Akron Gymnasium. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.

1882founded
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Akron’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Akron began

When was Akron founded?

1882

Akron dates its founding to 1882 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 559 in 18902020 census: 1,757144 years

How historic is Akron?

B+

More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1883.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Akron’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Akron is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Akron’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194034.9% of homes (±6.8) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 5.8 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 70%
NewerOlder

Few Colorado towns list much on the Register (a typical Colorado town has 1.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Akron’s 5.8 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.8 points). Two sources give 1882.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Akron’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 5-fold.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1929–1939.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1913, drew every building in Akron.Old housesHalf of Akron’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · People over time

Akron, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020559 in 1890Low: 351

Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew 5-fold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Akron’s Wikipedia page.

By decade

Akron, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s18 items
AkronNewsReporter-1st-edition1929AkronNewsReporter-1st-editionMrs. Frank D. Allen (Colorado Club Woman, 1929)1929Mrs. Frank D. Allen (Colorado Club Woman, 1929)Farmers at sorghum exhibit, U.S. Experiment Station1939Farmers at sorghum exhibit, U.S. Experiment StationFarmer examines sorghum exhibit, U.S. Experiment Station1939Farmer examines sorghum exhibit, U.S. Experiment Stat…Farmers eating lunch, U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Farmers eating lunch, U.S. Dry Land Experiment StationFarmers visit U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station near Akron, Colorado1939Farmers visit U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station near A…Corgo, feedcrop recommended by U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Corgo, feedcrop recommended by U.S. Dry Land Experime…Farmers at field day, U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Farmers at field day, U.S. Dry Land Experiment StationHigh school band welcomes officials arriving for farmers' field day1939High school band welcomes officials arriving for farm…Farmer with free lunch at U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Farmer with free lunch at U.S. Dry Land Experiment St…Free lunch at farmers field day, U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Free lunch at farmers field day, U.S. Dry Land Experi…Farmers and wives at field day, U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Farmers and wives at field day, U.S. Dry Land Experim…Akron (vicinity), Colorado, U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station. Farmer looking at sorghum exhibit1939Akron (vicinity), Colorado, U.S. Dry Land Experiment …Free lunch counter at farmers field day, U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Free lunch counter at farmers field day, U.S. Dry Lan…Free lunch counter at farmers field day, U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Free lunch counter at farmers field day, U.S. Dry Lan…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer examines sorghum exhibit, U.S. Experiment Station1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmer examines …Farmers in town for field day at U.S. Dry Land Experiment Station1939Farmers in town for field day at U.S. Dry Land Experi…High school band plays at station for officials arriving for farmers' field day1939High school band plays at station for officials arriv…
1940s–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
Every building

Akron, building by building, 1893–1913

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Akron fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Akron came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Akron.

Read it all →

Akron was platted in 1882. Originally, Akron was a small camp on the railroad, being halfway between McCook and Denver. The community was named after Akron, Ohio, the native home of the wife of a railroad employee. The Akron, Colorado, post office opened on January 30, 1883. Washington County was created on February 9, 1887, with Akron as its first and only seat. The Town of Akron was incorporated on September 22, 1887.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Akron, 1882 to 1973

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882
    FoundingAkron is established
  3. 1883Post officeThe Akron post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1913Born hereTommy Heath is born here
  6. 1929In the archiveAkronNewsReporter-1st-edition
  7. 1934Born hereRoger P. Scheer is born here
  8. 1939In the archiveFarmers at sorghum exhibit, U.S. Experiment Station
  9. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,890
  10. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Akron on the map, 1973 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Akron. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Akron on the 1973 USGS mapAkron on the 1980 USGS map1973Akron sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Akron.

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.

AkronNewsReporter-1st-edition
Retake this viewAkronNewsReporter-1st-edition, 1929

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Akron

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2008
Akron Gymnasium
Akron Gymnasium
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

WPA Modernist1
Akron GymnasiumWPA Modernist

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Akron

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
T
Tommy HeathAmerican baseball player · b. 1913
Roger P. ScheerAmerican general · b. 1934
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Akron’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gone or out of use
Schoenecker PitmineWashington Granite Quarrymine

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

Help out

Finish Akron’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAkronNewsReporter-1st-edition: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Akron’s history

What year was Akron founded?

In 1882, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Akron’s post office opened in 1883, and the census of 1890 counted 559 people here.

How does Akron rank for history?

Akron is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Akron?

One place: the Akron Gymnasium (listed 2008).

How old are the homes in Akron?

35% of Akron’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1956.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (16), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.