Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #67 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Berthoud was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2011. Its Register listings are the Bimson Blacksmith Shop and the Little Thompson River Bridge. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1890.
The Berthoud post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Berthoud is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #67 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Berthoud’s 1.6 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Berthoud. 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 Berthoud.
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.
1895Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Berthoud.
White settlers first came to the present-day Berthoud area in the early 1860s, following the Colorado Gold Rush. Many settlers filed homestead claims, but most bellied up and left the valley to heartier souls who ranched and farmed the arid prairie that straddled the river bottom.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Berthoud, cut from the printed page as they were published.
United Brethren Church. — This organization was first known as the Little Thompson Mission and it was served by Rev. E. J. Lamb. Services were first held in the school house in old Berthoud, but soon after the completion of the Colorado Central railroad from Denver to Cheyenne, the congregation met in what is now the town of Berthoud.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The following sketch of the early history of Berthoud is taken from the Berthoud Bulletin of December, 1910: "The thriving little city of Berthoud is situated on the Colorado & Southern railroad in the southeast corner of Larimer county. The first store was started in old Berthoud in 1880 by Snyder & Grill. This was a general merchandise stock and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1937AIL 46-77 - DPLA - 3c5d606f3dcdf592642dda63a5cb333a
1937AIL 46-79 - DPLA - 324250afd3d94df3c0d14f1b9b072735
1937AIL 46-80 - DPLA - bf6667926fa1ed0c4f5494235f26eec3
1937AIL 46-81 - DPLA - abfeca83afde96f2e6816cbe3467e9a5
1937AIL 46-83 - DPLA - 0a4b8b29352e05f157c202db3d34259f
1937AIL 46-84 - DPLA - dc091f0014490694bdc2104bd1c38acfNo 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 Berthoud’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 228 people in 1890 to 10,332 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Berthoud’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Berthoud’s post office has been open since 1878.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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.
The Berthoud post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Berthoud is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #67 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.
Two places: the Bimson Blacksmith Shop (listed 1981) and the Little Thompson River Bridge (2002).
4% of Berthoud’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 2011.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
