Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1990.
The Byers post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Byers is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull 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 Byers’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Byers’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Byers.
The Byers Post Office has been in operation since 1873. Byers comprises two distinct districts, being the bustling Downtown Byers, and the Historic Uptown Byers. The community took the name of William Byers, the first Colorado newspaper editor.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Byers, cut from the printed page as they were published.
he removed his herd to the Bijou, at Byers, and purchased 800 acres of fine grazing land so located as to control access to the creek for a distance of five miles. In 1877, he removed his cattle ranche to Kit Karson, retaining his ranche at Byers as a sheep ranche, having become largely interested in that branch of pastoral industry. At one time, he owned not less than 12,000 sheep, and at his death
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Byers. 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 Byers.
Between 1,065 and 1,322 people in every census since 1990.
4 censuses, 1990–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Byers’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Byers itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Byers post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Byers is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. 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.
17% of Byers’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±17.4 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (4), Wikipedia, 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 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.
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