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CHistory
History · Frisco

Frisco’s post office opened in 1879, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #73 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Most of Frisco was built recently: 0.8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listings are the Frisco Schoolhouse and the Wildhack's Grocery Store-Post Office. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1880.

1879first post office
2on the National Register
0.8%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Frisco began

When was Frisco founded?

1879

The Frisco post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 48 in 18802020 census: 2,913147 years

How historic is Frisco?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Frisco post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Frisco’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frisco is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #73 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Frisco’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.8% of homes (±1.3) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 7.1 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 54%

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 Frisco’s 7.1 sits above most of its state (66% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 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 Frisco’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Frisco are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Frisco’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Frisco’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Frisco, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0001880190019201940196019802000202048 in 1880Low: 18

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.

11 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

The story

How Frisco came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Frisco.

Read it all →

Founded in 1873 (and officially chartered in 1879) by Henry Recen, Frisco was built because of the Colorado Silver Boom, which began in 1879. Frisco was incorporated on December 3, 1880. The town's name comes not from San Francisco, California but, rather, the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, commonly known as the Frisco, in an attempt to lure the rail line to the town. (Frisco, Texas, is also named after the railroad.)

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Frisco, 1879 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Frisco post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 2,913
By decade

Frisco, decade by decade

Today24 recent
Fun in "tumble bubbles" at the Frisco Adventure Park2016Fun in "tumble bubbles" at the Frisco Adventure ParkTenmile Creek2016Tenmile CreekLily Pad Trees (Unsplash)2016Lily Pad Trees (Unsplash)Green woodland from above (Unsplash)2016Green woodland from above (Unsplash)Frisco, United States (Unsplash j1 s52QX6fs)2016Frisco, United States (Unsplash j1 s52QX6fs)Distant view of Dillon Reservoir, near Frisco, Colorado2015Distant view of Dillon Reservoir, near Frisco, Colora…Frisco, United States (Unsplash DsIpNh9s5qc)2015Frisco, United States (Unsplash DsIpNh9s5qc)Frisco, CO, USA2015Frisco, CO, USAMeadow Creek Park2013Meadow Creek ParkMeadow Creek Park Frisco, CO - panoramio (1)2013Meadow Creek Park Frisco, CO - panoramio (1)Untitled photo2013Untitled photoI-70 West in2012I-70 West inFrisco Historic Park Sign2012Frisco Historic Park SignFrisco Historic Park - Woods Cabin2012Frisco Historic Park - Woods CabinFrisco Historic Park - Woods Cabin Interior2012Frisco Historic Park - Woods Cabin InteriorFrisco Historic Park - Trappers Cabin Interior2012Frisco Historic Park - Trappers Cabin InteriorFrisco Historic Park - Prestrud Stoley House2012Frisco Historic Park - Prestrud Stoley HouseFrisco Historic Park - Prestrud Stoley House 22012Frisco Historic Park - Prestrud Stoley House 2Frisco Historic Park - Park and sculpture2012Frisco Historic Park - Park and sculptureFrisco Historic Park - Niemoth Cabin2012Frisco Historic Park - Niemoth CabinFrisco Historic Park - Bailey House 22012Frisco Historic Park - Bailey House 2Walls of Mordor2010Walls of MordorWildhack 32009Wildhack 3Stand of aspen along the trail to Lily Pad Lake, NW of the town of Frisco, Summit Co., CO2009Stand of aspen along the trail to Lily Pad Lake, NW o…
On the map

Frisco on the map, 1929 to 1987

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

Frisco on the 1929 USGS mapFrisco on the 1934 USGS mapFrisco on the 1970 USGS mapFrisco on the 1987 USGS map1929Dillon sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Frisco.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Frisco

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
1983
Frisco Schoolhouse
Frisco SchoolhouseWildhack's Grocery Store-Post Office
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Frisco SchoolhouseBuilding
Wildhack's Grocery Store-Post OfficeVernacular

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Frisco

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

See all →
Mikaela ShiffrinAmerican alpine skier · b. 1995
Jaelin KaufAmerican freestyle skier · b. 1996
Elizabeth LemleyAmerican freestyle skier · b. 2006
Arthur HoytAmerican film actor · b. 1874
June MathisAmerican screenwriter, producer and film studio… · b. 1887
Enid MarkeyAmerican actress of stage, film and television · b. 1894
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Frisco’s post office has been open since 1879.

Gone or out of use
Frisco Minemine
1cemetery inside Frisco
Frisco

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Frisco’s history

What year was Frisco founded?

The Frisco post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Frisco rank for history?

Frisco is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #73 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.

What is on the National Register in Frisco?

Two places: the Frisco Schoolhouse (listed 1983) and the Wildhack's Grocery Store-Post Office (1985).

How old are the homes in Frisco?

0.8% of Frisco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1989.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (22), the Library of Congress (2), 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) 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.