More historic than 7% of U.S. towns · #128 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Frederick was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2008. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Frederick post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Frederick’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frederick is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #128 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Frederick’s overall grade.
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 Frederick’s 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 →
What stands out about Frederick’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Initially named McKissick for the mine owner, Frederick was renamed when the daughters of Frederick A. Clark, a land owner, laid out the town site in 1907 and named it for their father. Incorporated in 1907, the Town of Frederick began as a coal mining town attracting immigrants from Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, several Slavic countries and Latin America. The Frederick Coal mine closed in 1960.
In 2014 the town 're-branded' by designing a logo that is a stylized gas lamp with a mountain range background, and adopting the tag line "Built on What Matters". Prior to the re-branding the town primarily used the seal as a logo on town vehicles and letter head.
The Frederick post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Frederick rank for history?
Frederick is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #128 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.
How old are the homes in Frederick?
2% of Frederick’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 2008.
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 (3), 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) 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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