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History · Antonito

Antonito’s post office opened in 1881, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 15 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1890.

1881first post office
5on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Antonito began

When was Antonito founded?

1881

The Antonito post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 315 in 18902020 census: 647145 years
Founding year: the first Antonito post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Antonito’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,255 in 1950; 647 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1890 to 1914, drew every building in Antonito.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Antonito’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Antonito’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
People over time

Antonito, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,255

Peaked at 1,255 in 1950; 647 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Antonito, building by building, 1890–1914

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.

Antonito fire insurance map, 1890, sheet 11890Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Antonito came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Antonito.

Read it all →

Antonito began life as a sheep herding camp known as San Antonio Junction, referring to its proximity to the Conejos and San Antonio rivers. When the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad built its line south from Alamosa, the town was renamed Antonito and became an important town on the railroad line. The San Antonio, Colorado, post office moved north to Antonito on January 24, 1881, and the Town of Antonito was incorporated on December 29, 1889. There are currently no major industries located in Antonito, but the historic Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad has one terminus in Antonito and the other in Chama, New Mexico. The C&TS also has maintenance facilities and rail yard in the town. The Colorado Pacific Rio Grande Railroad continues to operate the rail line from Antonito to Alamosa.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Antonito, 1881 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Antonito post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920Born hereJoe Mondragon is born here
  5. 1940In the archiveColorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
  6. 1940Born hereCarlos F. Lucero is born here
  7. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 1,255
  8. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Antonito, decade by decade

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

1940s1 item
Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
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
Today7 recent
Solar array in2024Solar array inAntonito Presbyterian Church - Antonito, Colorado, 20162016Antonito Presbyterian Church - Antonito, Colorado, 20…Colorado2015ColoradoAntonito, Colorado2014Antonito, ColoradoSPMDTU Concilio Superior2012SPMDTU Concilio SuperiorMe at the Colorado State Line2007Me at the Colorado State LineCOMap-doton-Antonito2005COMap-doton-Antonito
On the map

Antonito on the map in 1967

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Antonito.

Antonito on the 1967 USGS map1967Antonito 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 Antonito.

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 Antonito’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

5 listings protect 18 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
18
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Warshauer Mansion
Warshauer MansionEngine No. 463Palace HotelS.P.M.D.T.U. Concilio SuperiorDenver & Rio Grande Railroad San Juan Extension
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Style1
Hispano Fraternal Building1
Warshauer MansionBuilding
Engine No. 463Structure
Palace HotelCommercial Style
S.P.M.D.T.U. Concilio SuperiorHispano Fraternal Building
All 6 listings
Denver & Rio Grande Railroad San Juan ExtensionDistrict · listed 2007La Sala de las MujeresBuilding · listed 2026

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 Antonito

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

See all →
J
Joe MondragonWoody Herman's Band Member (1946) , In 50's :Ge… · b. 1920
C
Carlos F. LuceroAmerican judge · b. 1940

Questions about Antonito’s history

What year was Antonito founded?

The Antonito post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Antonito?

5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Warshauer Mansion (listed 1974, the first), 1 historic district, the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad San Juan Extension, with 15 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 18 historic buildings in all.

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 (8), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.