Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #20 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1890.
The Delta post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Delta is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #20 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls 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 Delta’s 8.5 sits above most of its state (70% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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 Delta’s history is told.
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 year, then a sheet.
1890Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Delta.
Delta was built as a trading post for the Ute people and early settlers. Fort Uncompahgre was built in 1828.
The Delta, Colorado, post office opened on January 5, 1882, and the Town of Delta was incorporated on October 24, 1882. The town was named because of its location on the delta where the Uncompahgre River flows into the Gunnison River.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltDelta County Bank Building is builtBuiltGarnethurst is built
Born herePaul Bannai is born here
Born hereFrank H. Ono is born here
Born hereDale Ishimoto is born here
In the archiveDelta (vicinity), Colorado. Western slope farms. Grain harvest
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereMatt Soper is born here
In the archiveWestways Court sign2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2012Alta Vista De La Montana-Multiple-Family Housing (201…
2012Alta Vista De La Montana-Multiple-Family Housing (201…
2012Alta Vista De La Montana-Multiple-Family Housing (201…
2012Alta Vista De La Montana-Multiple-Family Housing (201…
2012Alta Vista De La Montana-Multiple-Family Housing (201…
20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook
2005COMap-doton-Delta
200592710014 Fort UncompahgreThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Delta.
1962Delta sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Delta.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Delta’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 470 people in 1890 to 9,035 in 2020, more than tenfold.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Delta’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Delta’s post office has been open since 1882.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Delta post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Delta is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #20 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.
6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the US Post Office and Federal Building-Delta Main (listed 1986, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.
20% of Delta’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (9), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.