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History · Hooper

Hooper’s post office opened in 1896, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Howard Store. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1900.

1896first post office
1on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hooper’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hooper began

When was Hooper founded?

1896

The Hooper post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 177 in 19002020 census: 81130 years
Founding year: the first Hooper post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hooper’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hooper’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHooper Colorado: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hooper came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hooper.

Read it all →

The post office at Hooper was known as Garrison from January 26, 1891, until July 17, 1896. The present name honors Major S. Hooper, a railroad official. Hooper was in Costilla County, Colorado until March 8, 1913, when the formation of Alamosa County was authorized by the state legislature.

In 1964, human remains, believed to be those of a Native American of probable Ute origin, were discovered by a local farmer in Hooper.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Hooper, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Hooper ColoradoDate?Hooper Colorado
Today10 recent
Hooper Colorado Town hall2026Hooper Colorado Town hallHooper Park2025Hooper ParkOld Abandoned House near2019Old Abandoned House nearHooper Presbyterian Church - Hooper, Colorado, 20162016Hooper Presbyterian Church - Hooper, Colorado, 2016Howard Store2012Howard StorePostOfficeHooper2010PostOfficeHooperMainStreetHooper2010MainStreetHooperHooperfromaDistance2010HooperfromaDistanceCafeTruckStopHooper2010CafeTruckStopHooperUFO Watchtower2006UFO Watchtower
On the map

Hooper on the map, 1954 to 1982

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

Hooper on the 1954 USGS mapHooper on the 1982 USGS map1954Trinidad sheet · 1:250,000

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

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.

Hooper Colorado
Retake this viewHooper Colorado

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hooper

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2006
Howard Store
Howard Store
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
False Front1
19th Century Commercial1
Howard StoreLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements

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

People over time

Hooper, census by census

01001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 177

Between 58 and 177 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hooper

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

See all →
Ken SalazarUnited States Ambassador to Mexico since 2021 · b. 1955
Kent RomingerAmerican astronaut · b. 1956
John SalazarAmerican politician · b. 1953
Michael JohnsonAmerican pop, country and folk singer-songwrite… · b. 1944
Alva B. AdamsAmerican politician · b. 1875
Garrey CarruthersAmerican politician · b. 1939

Questions about Hooper’s history

What year was Hooper founded?

The Hooper post office opened in 1896, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hooper?

One place: the Howard Store (listed 2006).

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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.