Grand Junction’s post office opened in 1882, and 12 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 54% of U.S. towns · #33 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Grand Junction was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. 12 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 42 buildings between them. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Grand Junction post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Grand Junction’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Grand Junction is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #33 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Grand Junction’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 Grand Junction’s 7.3 sits above most of its state (67% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 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 Grand Junction’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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 year, then a sheet.
In September 1881, the former Ute Indian Territory was abolished and the Utes were forced into a reservation so that the U.S. government could open the area to settlers. Clinton County, Pennsylvania-born George Addison Crawford (1827–91) soon purchased a plot of land. On July 22, 1882, he incorporated the town of Grand Junction and planted Colorado's first vineyard near Palisade, Colorado, causing the area to become known as the Colorado Wine Country.
Grand Junction also has a storied past with gunfighters, miners, and early settlers of the American Southwest. Prior to its incorporation as the city of Grand Junction, the community was known as Ute, and was also briefly called West Denver.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Grand Junction. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Grand Junction sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Grand Junction.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewBeautiful Avenue of Apple Blossoms, Grand Junction, Colo, 1898
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grand Junction’s page.
The Grand Junction post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Grand Junction rank for history?
Grand Junction is more historic than 54% of U.S. towns, #33 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 Grand Junction?
12 listings: 7 buildings, among them the U.S. Post Office (listed 1980, the first), 3 historic districts, the Cross Land and Fruit Company Orchards and Ranch, the North Seventh Street Historic Residential District and the Department of Energy Grand Junction Office, with 42 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 50 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Grand Junction?
9% of Grand Junction’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (19), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (12), 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.
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