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History · Grand Lake

Grand Lake’s post office opened in 1879, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 96 buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1950.

1879first post office
5on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Grand Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Grand Lake began

When was Grand Lake founded?

1879

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

First census: 309 in 19502020 census: 410147 years
Founding year: the first Grand Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Grand Lake’s past

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

A historic districtThe Grand Lake Lodge takes in 96 historic buildings.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1950 and 1960, then more than doubled.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1911–1985.Landmarks on the Register5 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

5 listings protect 99 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
99
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Kauffman House
Kauffman HouseGrand Lake LodgeSmith-Eslick Cottage Court
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Rustic2
Log Cabin1
Kauffman HouseLog Cabin
Shadow Mountain LookoutBuilt 1932
Grand Lake LodgeRustic
Shadow Mountain TrailRustic · Built 1930
All 5 listings
Smith-Eslick Cottage CourtBuilding · listed 2016

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

People over time

Grand Lake, census by census

01002003004005001960198020002020309 in 1950Low: 170

Lost a third of its people between 1950 and 1960, then more than doubled.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

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

By decade

Grand Lake, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1960s12 items
Town of Grand Lake, Colo1911Town of Grand Lake, ColoColorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]Sanborn Souvenir Co. 3370 Shadow Mountain Adjoining1940sSanborn Souvenir Co. 3370 Shadow Mountain AdjoiningCABIN AND WORK SHOP, AT DITCH CAMP -7, VIEWING SOUTH - Grand Ditch, Ditch Camp No. 71968CABIN AND WORK SHOP, AT DITCH CAMP -7, VIEWING SOUTH …CABIN, AT DITCH CAMP -7, VIEWING WEST - Grand Ditch, Ditch Camp No. 71968CABIN, AT DITCH CAMP -7, VIEWING WEST - Grand Ditch, …GRAND DITCH AND WORKSHOP, AT DITCH CAMP -3, VIEWING SOUTH - Grand Ditch, Ditch Camp No. 31968GRAND DITCH AND WORKSHOP, AT DITCH CAMP -3, VIEWING S…GRAND DITCH OVERVIEW, VIEWING SOUTH - Grand Ditch, Baker Creek to LaPoudre Pass Creek1968GRAND DITCH OVERVIEW, VIEWING SOUTH - Grand Ditch, Ba…GRAND DITCH VIEW, FROM FARVIEW CURVE OVERLOOK, VIEWING WEST. DITCH IS INDICATED BY HORIZONTAL LINE NEAR TOP OF CLOUD CO…1968GRAND DITCH VIEW, FROM FARVIEW CURVE OVERLOOK, VIEWIN…GRAND DITCH WITH LUNCHROOM AND WORKSHOP, AT DITCH CAMP -3, VIEWING NORTH - Grand Ditch, Ditch Camp No. 31968GRAND DITCH WITH LUNCHROOM AND WORKSHOP, AT DITCH CAM…GRAND DITCH, WITH HEADGATE AND INLET - Grand Ditch, Baker Creek to LaPoudre Pass Creek1968GRAND DITCH, WITH HEADGATE AND INLET - Grand Ditch, B…GRAND DITCH, WITH HEADGATE, VIEWING SOUTH - Grand Ditch, Baker Creek to LaPoudre Pass Creek1968GRAND DITCH, WITH HEADGATE, VIEWING SOUTH - Grand Dit…
1970s–1980s6 items
CAMPGROUND1972CAMPGROUNDTimber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain National Park. Interior, bunk area, viewing southwest. - Timber Cr…1985Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain …Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain National Park. Interior, kitchen and dining area, viewing north. -…1985Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain …Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain National Park. Viewing east. - Timber Creek Bunkhouse and Mess Hal…1985Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain …Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain National Park. Viewing north. - Timber Creek Bunkhouse and Mess Ha…1985Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain …Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain National Park. Viewing south. - Timber Creek Bunkhouse and Mess Ha…1985Timber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain …
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Grand Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Grand Lake.

Read it all →

Established in 1881, Grand Lake sits at an elevation of 8,369 feet (2,551 m) and derives its name from the lake on whose shores it is situated: Grand Lake, the largest natural body of water in Colorado. The town of Grand Lake was originally an outfitting and supply point for the mining settlements of Lulu City, Teller City, and Gaskill, but today is a tourist destination adjacent to the western entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, which surrounds the lake and the town on three sides. Grand Lake was the Grand County seat of government from 1882 to 1888. It was incorporated on June 23, 1944.

ChaptersFred N. Selak, ″The Hermit of Grand Lake″

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Grand Lake, 1879 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Grand Lake post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911In the archiveTown of Grand Lake, Colo
  5. 1930BuiltShadow Mountain Trail is built
  6. 1932BuiltShadow Mountain Lookout is built
  7. 1940In the archiveColorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
  8. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1968In the archiveCABIN AND WORK SHOP, AT DITCH CAMP -7, VIEWING SOUTH - Grand Ditch, Ditch Camp No. 7
  10. 1972In the archiveCAMPGROUND
  11. 1985In the archiveTimber Creek bunkhouse and mess hall, Rocky Mountain National Park. Interior, bunk area, …
  12. 21st century
  13. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 471
On the map

Grand Lake on the map, 1958 to 1978

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

Grand Lake on the 1958 USGS mapGrand Lake on the 1978 USGS map1958Grand Lake 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 Lake.

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.

Town of Grand Lake, Colo
Retake this viewTown of Grand Lake, Colo, 1911

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Grand Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Grand Lake

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

See all →
Tommy CaldwellAmerican rock climber · b. 1978
I
Ian MacGregorRoad racing cyclist · b. 1983
S
Svea IrvingAmerican freestyle skier · b. 2002
J
Jason DonaldRoad bicycle racer · b. 1980
Mark Muir MillsAmerican nuclear physicist · b. 1917
James H. DickinsonAmerican Army general · b. 1965
Help out

Finish Grand Lake’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
5 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTown of Grand Lake, Colo: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Grand Lake’s history

What year was Grand Lake founded?

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

What is on the National Register in Grand Lake?

5 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Kauffman House (listed 1974, the first), 1 historic district, the Grand Lake Lodge, with 96 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 99 historic buildings in all.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.