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Hotchkiss, ColoradoPhoto: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0
–Not graded
History · Hotchkiss

Hotchkiss’ post office opened in 1882, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1900.

1882first post office
3on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
14old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hotchkiss’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hotchkiss began

When was Hotchkiss founded?

1882

The Hotchkiss post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 261 in 19002020 census: 875144 years
Founding year: the first Hotchkiss post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hotchkiss’ past

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

A town in old photos14 old photos, postcards and papers, 1939–1980.
★ What stands out · By decade

Hotchkiss, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s8 items
Farmstead scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower. Near Hotchkiss, Colorado1939Farmstead scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security A…Farm scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower. Near Hotchkiss, Colorado1939Farm scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Admini…Farm scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower. Near Hotchkiss Colorado1939Farm scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Admini…Thomas Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) rehabilitation client, feeding turkeys near Hotchkiss, Colorado1939Thomas Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) reh…Thomas Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) rehabilitation borrower, feeding turkeys near Hotchkiss, Colorado1939Thomas Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) reh…Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) rehabilitation client on his farm near Hotchkiss, Colorado1939Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) rehabi…Mrs. Tom Reilly, wife of FSA (Farm Security Administration) rehabilitation borrower, with guinea pigs. Near Hotchkiss, …1939Mrs. Tom Reilly, wife of FSA (Farm Security Administr…Mrs. Tom Reilly, wife of FAS (Farm Security Administration) rehabilitation client, with daughter and guinea pigs. Near …1939Mrs. Tom Reilly, wife of FAS (Farm Security Administr…
1940s1 item
Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
1950s–1970snothing 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
1980s4 items
Llama ranch near1980Llama ranch nearLlama ranch near1980Llama ranch nearLlama ranch near Hotchkiss, Colorado1980Llama ranch near Hotchkiss, ColoradoLlama ranch near Hotchkiss, Colorado1980Llama ranch near Hotchkiss, Colorado
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
Date unknown1 to date
Hotchkiss Bridge, Spanning North Fork River on County Road 3400Date?Hotchkiss Bridge, Spanning North Fork River on County…
Today2 recent
Hotchkiss, Colorado2013Hotchkiss, ColoradoHotchkiss Homestead2013Hotchkiss Homestead
The story so far

Hotchkiss, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hotchkiss yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hotchkiss is a statutory town in Delta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 875 at the 2020 census. A post office called Hotchkiss has been in operation since 1882. The town is named after Enos T. Hotchkiss, a local pioneer.

Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 944 to 875 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Hotchkiss, 1882 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Hotchkiss post office opens
  3. 1896BuiltHotchkiss Hotel is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1939In the archiveFarmstead scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower. Near Hotchk…
  6. 1940In the archiveColorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
  7. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1980In the archiveLlama ranch near
On the map

Hotchkiss on the map, 1965 to 1979

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

Hotchkiss on the 1965 USGS mapHotchkiss on the 1979 USGS map1965Hotchkiss 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 Hotchkiss.

Every building

Hotchkiss, building by building, 1908–1914

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.

Hotchkiss fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Farmstead scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower. Near Hotchkiss, Colorado
Retake this viewFarmstead scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (Farm Security Administration) borrower. Near Hotchkiss, Colorado, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

3 historic places in Hotchkiss

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Hotchkiss Hotel
Hotchkiss Hotel, built 1896Hotchkiss Methodist Episcopal ChurchHotchkiss Homestead
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Craftsman1
Folk Victorian1
Transverse Frame Barn1
Hotchkiss HotelBuilt 1896
Hotchkiss Methodist Episcopal ChurchLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Craftsman
All 3 listings
Hotchkiss HomesteadDistrict · listed 2011

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

People over time

Hotchkiss, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 968

Between 261 and 968 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hotchkiss

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

See all →
Dalton TrumboAmerican screenwriter · b. 1905
Terence McKennaAmerican ethnobotanist and mystic · b. 1946
P
Paolo BacigalupiAmerican science fiction and fantasy writer · b. 1972
A
Al TaliaferroAmerican comics artist · b. 1905
Dennis McKennaAmerican ethnopharmacologist and author · b. 1950
Frank H. OnoU.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1923
Help out

Finish Hotchkiss’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 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 viewFarmstead scene with Tom Reilly, FSA (F…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Hotchkiss’ history

What year was Hotchkiss founded?

The Hotchkiss post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hotchkiss?

Three places: the Hotchkiss Hotel (listed 1984), the Hotchkiss Methodist Episcopal Church (2009) and the Hotchkiss Homestead (2011).

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 (5), the Library of Congress (11), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.