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B−History
History · Cortez

Cortez dates to 1886, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #40 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Ertel Funeral Home, the Montezuma Valley National Bank and Store Building and the Cortez High School. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1890.

1886founded
3on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cortez’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cortez began

When was Cortez founded?

1886

Cortez dates its founding to 1886 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1890.

First census: 332 in 18902020 census: 8,766140 years

How historic is Cortez?

B−

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Cortez’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cortez is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #40 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cortez’s overall grade.
Founding era1886, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.0% of homes (±3.5) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register3 listings, 4 historic buildings, 4.5 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 51%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 75%

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 Cortez’s 4.5 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). Two sources give 1886.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Cortez’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · People over time

Cortez, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,0001900192019401960198020002020332 in 1890Low: 125

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story

How Cortez came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cortez.

Read it all →

In 1886, the town was built to provide housing for the men working on the tunnels and irrigation ditches required to divert water out of the Dolores River and into Montezuma Valley. The town was named for Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. The Cortez, Colorado post office opened on June 21, 1887.

ChaptersPrehistoric sitesHistoric trails or byways1959 U-2 emergency landing

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cortez, 1886 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886
    FoundingCortez is established
  3. 1887Post officeThe Cortez post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1909BuiltCortez High School is built
  6. 1915In the archiveThe Tacoma Times February 27 1915 article about the Bluff War in Utah
  7. 1936BuiltErtel Funeral Home is built
  8. 1936Born hereIra C. Owens is born here
  9. 1959Born hereChuck Nevitt is born here
  10. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1980In the archiveMesa Verde pueblos
  12. 1983Born hereJanelle Knox-Hayes is born here
  13. 1991In the archiveBasin Industrial Bank, Main Street
  14. 1992Born hereEli Tomac is born here
  15. 21st century
  16. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 8,766
By decade

Cortez, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
The Tacoma Times February 27 1915 article about the Bluff War in Utah1915The Tacoma Times February 27 1915 article about the B…
1920s–1970snothing 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
1980s–1990s9 items
Mesa Verde pueblos1980Mesa Verde pueblosRugged southwest Colorado landscape near Mesa Verde National Park1980Rugged southwest Colorado landscape near Mesa Verde N…Basin Industrial Bank, Main Street1991Basin Industrial Bank, Main StreetCommercial building, Market Street1991Commercial building, Market StreetTrail of the Ancients - Indian Dancers at the Cortez Cultural Center1995Trail of the Ancients - Indian Dancers at the Cortez …Cover Sheet and Site Plan - Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NP-5-C, Barracks No. 5, CCC Camp Historic District a…1999Cover Sheet and Site Plan - Civilian Conservation Cor…Elevations and Section - Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NP-5-C, Barracks No. 5, CCC Camp Historic District at C…1999Elevations and Section - Civilian Conservation Corps …Floor Framing Plan, Floor Plan, Reflected Ceiling Plan - Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp NP-5-C, Barracks No. 5,…1999Floor Framing Plan, Floor Plan, Reflected Ceiling Pla…Typical Window, Interior Wall Paint Sequence, Wall Section, and Foundation Sections - Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)…1999Typical Window, Interior Wall Paint Sequence, Wall Se…
Today12 recent
Elevations and Petrogylphs - Cannonball Pueblo2004Elevations and Petrogylphs - Cannonball PuebloElevations - Cannonball Pueblo2004Elevations - Cannonball PuebloElevations - Cannonball Pueblo2004Elevations - Cannonball PuebloElevations - Cannonball Pueblo2004Elevations - Cannonball PuebloElevations - Cannonball Pueblo2004Elevations - Cannonball PuebloEast elevation of the north pueblo structures 1 and 2 - Cannonball Pueblo2004East elevation of the north pueblo structures 1 and 2…East elevation of the north pueblo structure 5 - Cannonball Pueblo2004East elevation of the north pueblo structure 5 - Cann…Door detail of the south pueblo tower A - Cannonball Pueblo2004Door detail of the south pueblo tower A - Cannonball …Plan of South Pueblo, Structure 30, and Tower A - Cannonball Pueblo2004Plan of South Pueblo, Structure 30, and Tower A - Can…MapPlan of South Pueblo, Structure 30, and Tower A - Cannonball Pueblo2004Plan of South Pueblo, Structure 30, and Tower A - Can…MapPlan of North Pueblo - Cannonball Pueblo2004Plan of North Pueblo - Cannonball PuebloMapPlan of North Pueblo - Cannonball Pueblo2004Plan of North Pueblo - Cannonball PuebloMap
On the map

Cortez on the map in 1965

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Cortez.

Cortez on the 1965 USGS map1965Cortez 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 Cortez.

Every building

Cortez, building by building, 1919

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.

Cortez fire insurance map, 1919, sheet 11919Sheet 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.

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.

The Tacoma Times February 27 1915 article about the Bluff War in Utah
Retake this viewThe Tacoma Times February 27 1915 article about the Bluff War in Utah, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Cortez

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Ertel Funeral Home
Ertel Funeral Home, built 1936Montezuma Valley National Bank and Store BuildingCortez High School, built 1909
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival1
Classical Revival1
Ertel Funeral HomeMission/Spanish Colonial Revival · Built 1936
Montezuma Valley National Bank and Store BuildingClassical Revival
Cortez High SchoolBuilt 1909

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Cortez

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
C
Chuck NevittAmerican basketball player · b. 1959
Eli TomacAmerican motorcycle racer · b. 1992
Ira C. OwensUnited States general · b. 1936
Janelle Knox-HayesAmerican academic studying economic geography · b. 1983
V
Verdell JacksonMontana legislator · b. 1941
D
Davis FilfredUnited States Marine · b. 1967
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Cortez’s post office has been open since 1887.

Gone or out of use
Cortez MinemineMitchell Springs MinemineMowry Minemine

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

Help out

Finish Cortez’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewThe Tacoma Times February 27 1915 artic…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Cortez’s history

What year was Cortez founded?

In 1886, according to Wikidata. Cortez’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1890 counted 332 people here.

How does Cortez rank for history?

Cortez is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #40 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 Cortez?

Three places: the Ertel Funeral Home (listed 1995), the Montezuma Valley National Bank and Store Building (2009) and the Cortez High School (2016).

How old are the homes in Cortez?

11% of Cortez’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1972.

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 (20), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 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.