Founding year: the first Del Norte post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Del Norte’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Del Norte is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Del Norte’s overall grade.
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 Del Norte’s 6.0 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±6.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Del Norte’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Del Norte is named from the river Rio Grande del Norte, or "great river of the north". There is abundant evidence in the area in the form of arrowheads and campsites of ancient peoples living around Del Norte thousands of years ago, such as the Folsom people. Afterwards, the Utes were known to live around Del Norte and the rest of the San Luis Valley, going back hundreds of years prior to Euro-American contact. They lived here temporarily in the warmer months because of the abundance of wild game, plants, water, and timber in the area – winters were often too cold and harsh for them to settle permanently. Spanish and Mexican peoples were the first non-natives to explore the nearby land, coming from Santa Fe and other parts of New Mexico. They were interested in surveying the 'Rio del Norte', or 'River of the North' – hence the origin of the town's name. This was the original name of the…
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Del Norte’s post office has been open since 1873.
Gone or out of use
Rio Granite Granite QuarrymineSpiegel Minemine
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Del Norte’s history
What year was Del Norte founded?
The Del Norte post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Del Norte rank for history?
Del Norte is more historic than 62% 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.
What is on the National Register in Del Norte?
One place: the Sutherland Bridge (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Del Norte?
23% of Del Norte’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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