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History · Avondale

Avondale’s post office opened in 1892, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1960 on, and the census since 2000.

1892first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Avondale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Avondale began

When was Avondale founded?

1892

The Avondale post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 754 in 20002020 census: 594134 years
Founding year: the first Avondale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Avondale’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Avondale’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Avondale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Avondale’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 - Alamosa through Cheyenne Mou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Avondale came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Avondale.

Read it all →

The Avondale, Colorado, post office opened on March 22, 1892. The name Avondale is derived from Stratford-upon-Avon.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Avondale, 1892 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892Post officeThe Avondale post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1942In the archiveColorado - Alamosa through Cheyenne Mountain
  5. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Avondale, decade by decade

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

1940s2 items
Colorado - Alamosa through Cheyenne Mountain1942Colorado - Alamosa through Cheyenne MountainColorado - Alamosa through Cheyenne Mountain1942Colorado - Alamosa through Cheyenne Mountain
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
Today13 recent
Avondale Veterans Memorial Park2023Avondale Veterans Memorial ParkSacred Heart Catholic Church in2021Sacred Heart Catholic Church inMcHarg Park Community Center2020McHarg Park Community CenterAvondale, Colorado2020Avondale, ColoradoAvondale, Colorado post office2020Avondale, Colorado post officeAvondale Boulevard Bridge2020Avondale Boulevard BridgeVeterans at the Avondale Veterans Parade2019Veterans at the Avondale Veterans ParadePublic Meeting Held in2019Public Meeting Held inRudy Tafoya places a small American flag near the headstone of a child who was buried in Chico Cemetery, a windswept co…2015Rudy Tafoya places a small American flag near the hea…A tiny, poignant grave marker at Chico Cemetery, a windswept country graveyard near Avondale in Pueblo County, Colorado2015A tiny, poignant grave marker at Chico Cemetery, a wi…A long, passing freight train near Avondale in rural Pueblo County, Colorado2015A long, passing freight train near Avondale in rural …A long, passing freight train near Avondale in rural Pueblo County, Colorado2015A long, passing freight train near Avondale in rural …COMap-doton-Avondale2005COMap-doton-Avondale
On the map

Avondale on the map, 1960 to 1974

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

Avondale on the 1960 USGS mapAvondale on the 1974 USGS map1960Avondale 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 Avondale.

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 - Alamosa through Cheyenne Mountain
Retake this viewColorado - Alamosa through Cheyenne Mountain, 1942

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Avondale, census by census

020040060080020002020Peak: 754

Between 594 and 754 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Questions about Avondale’s history

What year was Avondale founded?

The Avondale post office opened in 1892, 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 →
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 (11), the Library of Congress (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.