Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns · #89 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Seventeen Mile House. Most of Dove Valley was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: maps from 1949 on.
More historic than 23% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dove Valley is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #89 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Dove Valley’s 4.2 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Dove Valley’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dove Valley.
The unincorporated community has never had its own post office. The Centennial, Colorado, post office (ZIP code 80112) serves the area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dove Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dove Valley.
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.
Nobody well known was born in Dove Valley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Dove Valley is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns, #89 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.
One place: the Seventeen Mile House (listed 1983).
0.0% of Dove Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 2004.
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 (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2014
