Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #43 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Elizabeth was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Its Register listing is the First National Bank of Elizabeth. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1900.
The Elizabeth post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Running Creek (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elizabeth is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #43 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 Elizabeth’s 8.9 sits above most of its state (71% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 Elizabeth’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was originally a saw mill camp. The town was later named after a family member of John Evans, a territorial governor. The Elizabeth, Colorado, post office opened on April 24, 1882, and the Town of Elizabeth was incorporated on October 9, 1890.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elizabeth. 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 Elizabeth.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1817/0757a4fe778621640b73-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Elizabeth’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Grew from 215 people in 1900 to 1,675 in 2020, 7 times over.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Elizabeth’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Elizabeth itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Elizabeth’s post office has been open since 1882. Another post office, Running Creek, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Elizabeth post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Elizabeth is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #43 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 First National Bank of Elizabeth (listed 2023).
9% of Elizabeth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1999.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.
2023
2023
2012
2012
2012
