Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the newest of U.S. towns · #156 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Federal Heights was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1950.
Federal Heights first appears in the census in 1950.
Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Federal Heights is among the newest of U.S. towns, #156 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 Federal Heights’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first census (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 Federal Heights’s history is told.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Federal Heights.
The Town of Federal Heights was incorporated on May 19, 1940. The community was named for its location on Federal Boulevard.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Federal Heights. 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 Federal Heights.
Grew from 173 people in 1950 to 14,382 in 2020, more than tenfold.
8 censuses, 1950–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Federal Heights’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Federal Heights itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Federal Heights post office opened in 1950, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Federal Heights is among the newest of U.S. towns, #156 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.
0.2% of Federal Heights’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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