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History · Arriba

Arriba’s post office opened in 1889, and 66% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1920.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
66%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Arriba began

When was Arriba founded?

1889

The Arriba post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 334 in 19202020 census: 202137 years
Founding year: the first Arriba post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Arriba’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Arriba are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Arriba’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Arriba’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Arriba came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arriba.

Read it all →

Arriba is the Spanish word for "on high" or "above others." The Arriba, Colorado, post office opened on February 4, 1889, and the Town of Arriba was incorporated on August 29, 1918.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Arriba, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Arriba, Colorado2019Arriba, ColoradoArriba, Colorado2014Arriba, ColoradoArriba, Colorado2013Arriba, ColoradoCOMap-doton-Arriba2005COMap-doton-Arriba
On the map

Arriba on the map, 1979 to 1984

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

Arriba on the 1979 USGS mapArriba on the 1984 USGS map1979Arriba 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 Arriba.

People over time

Arriba, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 367

Between 193 and 367 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Arriba’s history

What year was Arriba founded?

The Arriba post office opened in 1889, 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 →
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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 (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.