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History · Calhan

Calhan’s post office opened in 1888, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot. Below: maps from 1917 on and the census since 1930.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Calhan began

When was Calhan founded?

1888

The Calhan post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 399 in 19302020 census: 762138 years
Founding year: the first Calhan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Calhan’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 Calhan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Calhan’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Calhan’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 Calhan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calhan.

Read it all →

Calhan was established in 1888 as a water station for the now-defunct Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, with the first steam locomotive arriving on November 5, 1888. The town was named by and for Michael Calahan, who had the contract to lay railroad tracks from the Colorado/Kansas border to Colorado Springs. However, when the town's first U.S. Post Office opened on November 24, 1888, the middle "a" had been dropped and the town was registered as "Calhan." The town was incorporated as a statutory town in 1919. The town grew quickly, but it was not until 1906 that the Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot was built to meet the growing needs of the area.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Calhan, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Calhan, Colorado2014Calhan, ColoradoRanch, Hwy 24, Calhan, CO 7-29-13b2013Ranch, Hwy 24, Calhan, CO 7-29-13bRanch, Calhan, CO 7-29-13c2013Ranch, Calhan, CO 7-29-13cRanch, Calhan, CO 7-29-13a2013Ranch, Calhan, CO 7-29-13aCalhan, Colorado2013Calhan, ColoradoEl Paso County Fairground2008El Paso County FairgroundCalhan Colorado by David Shankbone2008Calhan Colorado by David ShankboneCalhan Colorado Cadillac Jacks by David Shankbone2008Calhan Colorado Cadillac Jacks by David Shankbone
On the map

Calhan on the map, 1970 to 1983

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

Calhan on the 1970 USGS mapCalhan on the 1983 USGS map1970Calhan 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 Calhan.

Every building

Calhan, building by building, 1917

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 sheet.

Calhan fire insurance map, 1917, sheet 11917Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Calhan

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot
Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Calhan Rock Island Railroad DepotLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements

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

People over time

Calhan, census by census

02004006008001,00019401960198020002020Peak: 896

Between 347 and 896 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Calhan

Nobody well known was born in Calhan itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Talcott ParsonsAmerican sociologist · b. 1902
Lon ChaneyAmerican actor · b. 1883
Jon WattsAmerican film director, producer and screenwrit… · b. 1981
Scott Walker45th Governor of Wisconsin · b. 1967
Kelly BishopAmerican actress · b. 1944
John RomeroAmerican video game designer · b. 1967

Questions about Calhan’s history

What year was Calhan founded?

The Calhan post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Calhan?

One place: the Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot (listed 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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikidata (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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.