The Gunnison post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Aberdeen (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 888 in 18802020 census: 6,560150 years
How historic is Gunnison?
B
More historic than 56% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Gunnison post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Gunnison’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gunnison is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #30 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 Gunnison’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 Gunnison’s 11.8 sits above most of its state (73% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±3.8 points). 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 Gunnison’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.
The City of Gunnison got its name from the first known European-American explorer of the area, John W. Gunnison. He was searching for a route for the transcontinental railroad in 1853 and only stayed for three days before traveling west to Utah. Gunnison saw its first population increase in the 1870s, due to the mining surge throughout the state. The railroad arrived soon after in 1880 to appreciative miners, ranchers, and farmers.
In the early 1800s, the groups moving into the Gunnison area were mainly fur trappers and mountain men, trying to make a living for themselves in the rocky mountain terrain. But a drop in fur prices in the 1840s essentially cut out the need for their jobs.
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.
Gunnison’s post office has been open since 1876. Another post office, Aberdeen, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Gunnison
1876–today
Aberdeen
1890–1891
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Aberdeenlocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Gunnison’s history
What year was Gunnison founded?
The Gunnison post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Gunnison rank for history?
Gunnison is more historic than 56% of U.S. towns, #30 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 Gunnison?
6 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Fisher-Zugelder House and Smith Cottage (listed 1984, the first), and 2 structures. 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Gunnison?
11% of Gunnison’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.8 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (4), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.
c. 1865
1882
