Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #75 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Aurora was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1900.
Aurora dates its founding to 1891 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Aurora is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #75 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Aurora ranks #306 on History.
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 Aurora’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (46% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
Newer cities are common at Aurora’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Aurora’s post office has been open since 1908. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Aurora.
Before European settlement, the land that now makes up Aurora was the territory of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Ute, and Sioux tribes. These lands were claimed by France in 1682 and subsequently became part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltDeLaney Barn is builtBuiltMelvin School is built
In the archiveGROUND WELL Down - Windler Farm, Vicinity of East Forty-eighth Avenue and Picadilly Road
In the archiveColorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
Born hereJohn Kerry is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveOPEN DUMP
In the archiveOld motel
Born hereCory Sandhagen is born here
Born hereConnor Storrie is born here4 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Aurora. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Aurora.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Aurora’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 202 people in 1900 to 386,261 in 2020, more than tenfold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Aurora’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1891, according to Wikidata. Aurora’s post office opened in 1866, and the census of 1900 counted 202 people here.
Aurora is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #75 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.
10 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Melvin School (listed 1984, the first). 11 historic buildings in all.
1% of Aurora’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1985.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (10), 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) 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.
![Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1954/c39cc4b14ea03d55c574-s.jpg)
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