Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Dolores

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Dolores

Dolores’ post office opened in 1878, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Southern Hotel and the Exon & Rush Meat Market and Mercantile. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1900.

1878first post office
2on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dolores’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dolores began

When was Dolores founded?

1878

The Dolores post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 108 in 19002020 census: 885148 years
Founding year: the first Dolores post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Dolores’ past

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

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · By decade

Dolores, decade by decade

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

1930s18 items
DETAIL OF CONCRETE BLOCKS - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, County Route 281933DETAIL OF CONCRETE BLOCKS - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, Co…DETAIL OF FRONT DOORS - Ritter Ranch, Potato Shed1933DETAIL OF FRONT DOORS - Ritter Ranch, Potato ShedDETAIL OF LOG CORNER - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, Workshop, County Route 281933DETAIL OF LOG CORNER - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, Worksho…DETAIL OF LOG CORNER JOINT - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, Chicken House1933DETAIL OF LOG CORNER JOINT - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, C…DETAIL OF SOUTHEAST CORNER - Reynolds Ranch, County Route 271933DETAIL OF SOUTHEAST CORNER - Reynolds Ranch, County R…DETAIL, FEED TROUGH - Ritter Ranch, Barn, Old Dolores Highway1933DETAIL, FEED TROUGH - Ritter Ranch, Barn, Old Dolores…HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 1 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 1 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 1 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 1 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 2 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 2 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 2 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 2 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 3 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 3 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 3 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 3 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 4 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 4 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 4 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 4 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 5 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 5 of 6) - Dolores River …HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 5 of 6) - Dolores River Area Survey (Ranches)1933HABS COLO,42-DOL.V,1- (sheet 5 of 6) - Dolores River …EAST AND NORTH SIDES - Ritter Ranch, Garage1933EAST AND NORTH SIDES - Ritter Ranch, GarageEAST FRONT - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, Barn, County Route 281933EAST FRONT - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, Barn, County Rout…
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
The story

How Dolores came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dolores.

Read it all →

The Dolores, Colorado, post office opened on April 5, 1878, and the Town of Dolores was incorporated on July 19, 1900. Dolores (Spanish for "sorrows" and named for the river on which it is located) is located at the mouth of the Dolores Valley and the upper reaches of McPhee Reservoir, approximately 40 miles (64 km) from the Four Corners Monument. Established as a station on the Rio Grande Southern Railroad, it replaced the earlier town, Big Bend, now covered by McPhee Reservoir. McPhee Reservoir is named for a company town founded by New Mexico Lumber Company, that is now covered by the reservoir.

The following are Dolores area historic sites of the Ancient Pueblo People:

ChaptersHistoric sites

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dolores, 1878 to 1965

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1878Post officeThe Dolores post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1933In the archiveDETAIL OF CONCRETE BLOCKS - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, County Route 28
  5. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Dolores on the map, 1965 to 1982

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

Dolores on the 1965 USGS mapDolores on the 1982 USGS map1965Dolores West 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 Dolores.

Every building

Dolores, building by building, 1910–1919

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 year, then a sheet.

Dolores fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
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.

DETAIL OF CONCRETE BLOCKS - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, County Route 28
Retake this viewDETAIL OF CONCRETE BLOCKS - Kuhlman-Periman Ranch, County Route 28, 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Dolores

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Southern Hotel
Southern HotelExon & Rush Meat Market and Mercantile
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Queen Anne1
Southern HotelQueen Anne
All 2 listings
Exon & Rush Meat Market and MercantileBuilding · listed 2024

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

People over time

Dolores, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 936

Between 108 and 936 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Dolores

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

See all →
Jaye P. MorganAmerican popular music singer, actress, and gam… · b. 1931
C
Chuck NevittAmerican basketball player · b. 1959
Eli TomacAmerican motorcycle racer · b. 1992
Allie LightAmerican film director and film producer · b. 1935
Ira C. OwensUnited States general · b. 1936
L
Luther EllissAmerican football player and coach · b. 1973
Help out

Finish Dolores’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewDETAIL OF CONCRETE BLOCKS - Kuhlman-Per…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Dolores’ history

What year was Dolores founded?

The Dolores post office opened in 1878, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Dolores?

Two places: the Southern Hotel (listed 1989) and the Exon & Rush Meat Market and Mercantile (2024).

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.