Aspen dates to 1879, and 30 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #44 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Aspen was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. 30 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 7 buildings between them. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Aspen’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aspen is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #44 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Aspen’s overall grade.
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 Aspen’s 54.8 sits above most of its state (90% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 37 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1879.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Aspen’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The city originated in 1879 when a group of miners ignored pleas by Frederick Pitkin, Governor of Colorado, to return across the Continental Divide to avoid a Ute uprising. The Utes were fighting to maintain possession of their land and communities. Originally named Ute City, the small community was renamed Aspen. The Aspen, Colorado, post office opened on June 7, 1880. Pitkin County was created on February 23, 1881, with Aspen as its first and only seat. The Town of Aspen was incorporated on April 1, 1881. In its peak production years of 1891 and 1892, Aspen surpassed Leadville as the United States' most productive silver-mining district. Production expanded due to the passage of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which doubled the government's purchase of silver. In 1883, the Apostolic Vicarate of Colorado's Bishop Machebeuf had the Reverend Edward Downey establish the first C…
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.
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.
A M and S Group MinemineA M T and D Company Tunnel MinemineArgentum-Juanita Incline MinemineBaltic MinemineCopperopolis MinemineCowenhoven TunnelmineD P Rolphing Company MinemineDeep Shaft MinemineFree Silver MinemineLime Gulch MinemineLittle Cloud Tunnel MinemineLittle May MinemineLittle Nell Shaft MinemineMary B Tunnel MinemineOriental Gravel PitmineOriental MineminePride of Aspen MinemineRed Spruce Minemine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Aspen
Aspen GroveRed ButteUte
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Aspen’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.
In 1879, according to Wikidata. Aspen’s post office opened in 1880, and the census of 1890 counted 5,108 people here.
How does Aspen rank for history?
Aspen is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #44 of 159 in Colorado. 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 Aspen?
30 listings: 23 buildings, among them the Wheeler Opera House (listed 1972, the first), 2 historic districts, the Holden Mining and Smelting Co. and the Soldner Home and Studio, with 7 contributing buildings, 2 sites, 2 structures, and 1 object. 37 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Aspen?
3% of Aspen’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (6), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (30), 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.
1893
c. 1894
1898
1898
1898
1941
1941
1941
1941
1941
