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History · Bethune

Bethune’s post office opened in 1889, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1969 on and the census since 1930.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Bethune began

When was Bethune founded?

1889

The Bethune post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 97 in 19302020 census: 183137 years
Founding year: the first Bethune post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bethune’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Bethune are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bethune’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Bethune came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bethune.

Read it all →

The Bethune, Colorado, post office opened on January 19, 1889. The Town of Bethune was incorporated on June 10, 1926.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Bethune, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Bethune, Colorado2019Bethune, ColoradoBethune, Colorado2014Bethune, Colorado
On the map

Bethune on the map, 1969 to 1984

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

Bethune on the 1969 USGS mapBethune on the 1984 USGS map1969Bethune 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 Bethune.

People over time

Bethune, census by census

010020019401960198020002020Peak: 237

Between 70 and 237 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Questions about Bethune’s history

What year was Bethune founded?

The Bethune post office opened in 1889, 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 →
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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 (2), 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.