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History · Alma

Alma dates to 1870, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Spring House-Moynahan House. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.

1870founded
1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alma’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alma began

When was Alma founded?

1870

Alma dates its founding to 1870 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 446 in 18802020 census: 296156 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1865.The full story ↓

What stands out about Alma’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1940 and 1970, then grew 4-fold.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1910, drew every building in Alma.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alma’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHydraulic mining, at Alma, S. Park, Col…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Alma, census by census

010020030040050018801900192019401960198020002020469 in 1940Low: 73

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1940 and 1970, then grew 4-fold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Every building

Alma, building by building, 1886–1910

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.

Alma fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 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 Alma came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alma.

Read it all →

The town was named by a merchant named Mr. James, after his wife. Another tradition states the town was named for the daughter of a resident.

The Alma, Colorado Territory, post office opened on March 7, 1873, and the Town of Alma was incorporated on December 2, 1873. Colorado became a state on August 1, 1876.

In February 1998, local resident Thomas Leask murdered a former mayor and damaged town buildings, costing the town at least US$100,000 (equivalent to about $198,000 in 2025), a prohibitive amount for Alma's municipal finances.

ChaptersMines

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alma, 1865 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865In the archiveHydraulic mining, at Alma, S. Park, Colorado.Alternate Title: Descriptive views of the Am…
  3. 1865Post officeThe Buckskin post office opens
  4. 1870
    FoundingAlma is established
  5. 1873Post officeThe Buckskin post office closes
  6. 1873Post officeThe Alma post office opens
  7. 1880In the archiveA placer mine at Alma in 1880
  8. 20th century
  9. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 469
By decade

Alma, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1880s4 items
Hydraulic mining, at Alma, S. Park, Colorado.Alternate Title: Descriptive views of the American Continent. 79c. 1865Hydraulic mining, at Alma, S. Park, Colorado.Alternat…A placer mine at Alma in 18801880A placer mine at Alma in 1880A placer mine at Alma in 1880 - DPLA - d69ceadd2a3a15bdb485e0635f3921fc1880A placer mine at Alma in 1880 - DPLA - d69ceadd2a3a15…Moynahan Fire and Hose Company Central Fire Station at Alma in the 1880s - DPLA - 85241f9f472b63ac25411b1ffd98304d1882–1885Moynahan Fire and Hose Company Central Fire Station a…
1890s–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
Today14 recent
Alma Colorado Montgomery Falls2020Alma Colorado Montgomery FallsUpper Platte River2019Upper Platte RiverCabin above2017Cabin aboveColorful hotel and bar in the tiny town of Alma in Park County, Colorado2015Colorful hotel and bar in the tiny town of Alma in Pa…Boutique in the tiny town of Alma in Park County, Colorado2015Boutique in the tiny town of Alma in Park County, Col…Colorful hotel and bar in the tiny town of2015Colorful hotel and bar in the tiny town ofBoutique in the tiny town of2015Boutique in the tiny town ofThe Alma Rose2014The Alma RoseRodocrosite, da park co. alma, sweet home mine, colorado, usa2014Rodocrosite, da park co. alma, sweet home mine, color…Alma, Colorado - c. 1870s2014Alma, Colorado - c. 1870sFaulted serpentinite (Buckskin Gulch2013Faulted serpentinite (Buckskin GulchThe Searchlight Rhodochrosite Crystal2006The Searchlight Rhodochrosite CrystalLondon mine assay office? CO2006London mine assay office? COAlma colorado2003Alma colorado
On the map

Alma on the map, 1938 to 1994

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

Alma on the 1938 USGS mapAlma on the 1945 USGS mapAlma on the 1970 USGS mapAlma on the 1994 USGS map1938Mount Lincoln sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

Hydraulic mining, at Alma, S. Park, Colorado.Alternate Title: Descriptive views of the American Continent. 79
Retake this viewHydraulic mining, at Alma, S. Park, Colorado.Alternate Title: Descriptive views of the American Continent. 79, c. 1865

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Alma

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2021
Spring House-Moynahan House
Spring House-Moynahan House
Buildings
All 1 listings
Spring House-Moynahan HouseBuilding · listed 2021

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Alma

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

See all →
Mikaela ShiffrinAmerican alpine skier · b. 1995
Jaelin KaufAmerican freestyle skier · b. 1996
Elizabeth LemleyAmerican freestyle skier · b. 2006
June MathisAmerican screenwriter, producer and film studio… · b. 1887
Enid MarkeyAmerican actress of stage, film and television · b. 1894
A
Alphonse BurnandSailor · b. 1896
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Alma’s post office has been open since 1873. Another post office, Buckskin, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Buckskin
1865–1873
Alma
1873–today
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Alma District Claims Minemine
1cemetery inside Alma
Buckskin

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

Questions about Alma’s history

What year was Alma founded?

In 1870, according to Wikidata. Alma’s post office opened in 1865, and the census of 1880 counted 446 people here.

What is on the National Register in Alma?

One place: the Spring House-Moynahan House (listed 2021).

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 (16), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.