History · Basalt

Basalt’s post office opened in 1895, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #51 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Most of Basalt was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1961 on, and the census since 1900.

1895first post office

1on the National Register

4%homes built before 1940

2old photos & papers

Add an old photo Share a memory

Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0

Quick answers

How Basalt began

When was Basalt founded?

1895

The Basalt post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Aspen Junction (1890), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 382 in 19002020 census: 3,984131 years

How historic is Basalt?

C⁺

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Basalt post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Basalt’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Basalt is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #51 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Basalt’s overall grade.

Founding era1895, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC⁺Homes built before 19403.6% of homes (±3.1) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%C National Register1 listing, 9 historic buildings, 20.8 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4A⁻

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%

NewerOlder

Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 68%

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 Basalt’s 20.8 sits above most of its state (78% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Basalt’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.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Basalt’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2 Retake an old viewBasalt, Colorado. Cattle on the Tucker …: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Basalt, census by census

Lost half of its people between 1900 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

The story

How Basalt came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Basalt.

Read it all →

Basalt was first named Aspen Junction after the railroad junction which led to present day Aspen, Colorado. Aspen Junction was a territory serving Aspen to Leadville Mining towns, with the Railroad Junction, also going West and South to Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. The Aspen Junction, Colorado, post office opened on February 13, 1890. The town was first served by the Colorado Midland Railroad, but the railroad was later bought by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1901.

The Aspen Junction post office was renamed Basalt on June 19, 1895, and the Town of Basalt was incorporated on August 26, 1901. The name was chosen for the basaltic rock formations on Basalt Mountain.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Basalt, 1890 to 2020

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

19th century
1890Post officeThe Aspen Junction post office opens
1895Post officeThe Aspen Junction post office closes
1895Post officeThe Basalt post office opens
20th century
1935In the archiveBasalt, Colorado. Cattle on the Tucker McClure ranch
1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
21st century
2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,984

By decade

Basalt, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item

1935Basalt, Colorado. Cattle on the Tucker McClure ranch

1940s–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

Date unknown1 to date

Map of the town of Basalt - DPLA - 69be30b89d139962c104dc852f8bc878

Date?Map of the town of Basalt - DPLA - 69be30b89d139962c1…Map

On the map

Basalt on the map, 1961 to 1982

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

1961Basalt 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 Basalt.

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.

Retake this viewBasalt, Colorado. Cattle on the Tucker McClure ranch, 1935

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

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

1 listing protects 9 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed

National Historic Landmarks

none yet

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

2023

Glassier Farmstead

Districts

All 1 listings

Glassier FarmsteadDistrict · listed 2023

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Basalt’s post office has been open since 1895. Another post office, Aspen Junction, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Aspen Junction

1890–1895

Basalt

1895–today

18901960today

Gone or out of use

Homeward Bound Quarrymine

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

El JebelIts storyD⁻

Questions about Basalt’s history

What year was Basalt founded?

The Basalt post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Basalt rank for history?

Basalt is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #51 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 Basalt?

One place: the Glassier Farmstead (listed 2023).

How old are the homes in Basalt?

4% of Basalt’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.1 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1995.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (23), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.

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