Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Granada Relocation Center, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: maps from 1914 on and the census since 1880.
The Granada post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name.
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 Granada’s history is told.
Peaked at 640 in 2000; 445 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Granada’s Wikipedia page.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Granada.
A post office called Granada has been in operation since 1873. The community most likely takes its name from nearby Granada Creek.
During World War II, the Granada War Relocation Center (known to internees as Camp Amache) was located west of Granada as a Japanese American internment camp. It opened in August 1942 and housed a maximum population of 7,318 citizens.
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.
Born hereRaymond O. Barton is born here
BuiltGranada Relocation Center is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2024U.S. Route 400 western terminus
2023Aerial view of
2016Water tower and grain elevator
2015A long irrigation sprinkler, and even longer dirt roa…
2015The Masonic Lodge building and adjacent body shop in …
2015An isolated barber shop, and behind it the town grain…
2015The Masonic Lodge building and adjacent body shop in …
2015An isolated barber shop, and behind it the town grain…
2013Granada Undivided High School
2007Granada, Colorado 2007
2005COMap-doton-GranadaThe U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Granada.
1953Granada sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Granada.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1914Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Granada post office opened in 1873, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Two places: the Granada Relocation Center (listed 1994) and the Granada Historic Commercial District (2025).
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
