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CHistory
History · Commerce City

Commerce City dates to 1924, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #78 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Most of Commerce City was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1938 on, and the census since 1960.

1924founded
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Commerce City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Commerce City began

When was Commerce City founded?

1924

Commerce City dates its founding to 1924 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 8,970 in 19602020 census: 62,418102 years

How historic is Commerce City?

C

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1910.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Commerce City’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Commerce City is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #78 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 Commerce City’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19401.7% of homes (±0.8) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 27%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 51%

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 Commerce City’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (47% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1924.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Commerce City’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Commerce City, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Commerce City’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewYF 34-06 - DPLA - 5df1c85b064ade4b2a67b…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Commerce City’s post office has been open since 1963. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Derby
1910–1963
Adams City
1923–1964
Commerce City
1963–today
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Adams CityEnoHazeltine HeightsIrondaleRolla
Gone or out of use
C and H Construction Company PitmineCooley Gravel Company PitmineDerby SchoolschoolJones Fine Sand Company PitmineOneida SchoolschoolOpen Door Fellowship of Commerce CitychurchReasoner AirportairportSaint Catherine SchoolschoolSuperior Sand and Gravel Company Pitmine
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Commerce City
RiversideRose Hill

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

The story

How Commerce City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Commerce City.

Read it all →

In 1859 after fighting in Bleeding Kansas, John D. "Colonel Jack" Henderson built a ranch, trading post, and hotel on Henderson Island in the South Platte River in Arapahoe County, Kansas Territory north of Denver, from which he sold meat and provisions to gold seekers on their way up the South Platte River Trail to the gold fields during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Henderson Island was the first permanent settlement in the South Platte River Valley between Fort Saint Vrain in the Nebraska Territory and the Cherry Creek Diggings in the Kansas Territory. Henderson Island is today the site of the Adams County Regional Park and Fairgrounds.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Commerce City, 1910 to 1964

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1910Post officeThe Derby post office opens
  3. 1923Post officeThe Adams City post office opens
  4. 1924
    FoundingCommerce City is established
  5. 1937In the archiveYF 34-06 - DPLA - 5df1c85b064ade4b2a67b291c5c9f99f
  6. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1963Post officeThe Derby post office closes
  8. 1963Post officeThe Commerce City post office opens
  9. 1964Post officeThe Adams City post office closes
By decade

Commerce City, decade by decade

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

1930s1 item
YF 34-06 - DPLA - 5df1c85b064ade4b2a67b291c5c9f99f1937YF 34-06 - DPLA - 5df1c85b064ade4b2a67b291c5c9f99f
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
Today11 recent
Welcome to Commerce City, Colorado2012Welcome to Commerce City, ColoradoWalgreenstruckTADenEast2009WalgreenstruckTADenEastU-Pump-ItQuebecStCommerceCity2009U-Pump-ItQuebecStCommerceCityTA Denver East, COLORADO -1482009TA Denver East, COLORADO -148SappBrosCommerceCity2009SappBrosCommerceCityMile High Greyhound Park2009Mile High Greyhound ParkWestern Kingbird2008Western KingbirdDenos 6 and 85 Truck Stop2008Denos 6 and 85 Truck StopBald Eagle2008Bald EagleFloodedpark2006FloodedparkCOMap-doton-CommerceCity2005COMap-doton-CommerceCity
On the map

Commerce City on the map, 1938 to 1980

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

Commerce City on the 1938 USGS mapCommerce City on the 1940 USGS mapCommerce City on the 1950 USGS mapCommerce City on the 1965 USGS mapCommerce City on the 1971 USGS mapCommerce City on the 1980 USGS map1938Derby 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 Commerce City.

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.

YF 34-06 - DPLA - 5df1c85b064ade4b2a67b291c5c9f99f
Retake this viewYF 34-06 - DPLA - 5df1c85b064ade4b2a67b291c5c9f99f, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Commerce City

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Riverside Cemetery
Riverside Cemetery
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque1
Mission1
Riverside CemeteryRomanesque

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

People over time

Commerce City, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,000196019802000202062,418

Grew from 8,970 people in 1960 to 62,418 in 2020, 6 times over.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

DerbyIts storyC−Brighton4 historic placesC+Denver324 historic placesA−Thornton1 historic placeDNorth WashingtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Commerce City’s history

What year was Commerce City founded?

In 1924, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Commerce City’s post office opened in 1910, and the census of 1960 counted 8,970 people here.

How does Commerce City rank for history?

Commerce City is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #78 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 Commerce City?

One place: the Riverside Cemetery (listed 1994).

How old are the homes in Commerce City?

2% of Commerce City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 2005.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.