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History · Iliff

Iliff’s post office opened in 1882, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1951 on, and the census since 1920.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Iliff’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Iliff began

When was Iliff founded?

1882

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

First census: 238 in 19202020 census: 246144 years
Founding year: the first Iliff post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Iliff’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Iliff’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFamily of John H. Children 8, 10, 13, 1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Iliff came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Iliff.

Read it all →

The town was named for John Wesley Iliff, a cattleman who owned a ranch near the town site. Iliff (1831-1878), known as the 'Cattle King of Colorado', arrived during the 1859 gold rush and built one of the largest cattle operations in the American West. By the mid-1870's, he owned approximately 35,000 head of cattle and 15,558 acres of rangeland in northeastern Colorado. He supplied beef to Union Pacific Railroad construction crews, army posts, and mining towns, and was one of the wealthiest men in Colorado when he died in 1878.

ChaptersFoundingNatural disastersRailroadSugar beet eraGrowth periodDecline

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Iliff, 1882 to 1951

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Iliff post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1915In the archiveFamily of John H. Children 8, 10, 13, 15 yrs. old pulling and picking beets on farm at Il…
  5. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Iliff, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s4 items
Family of John H. Children 8, 10, 13, 15 yrs. old pulling and picking beets on farm at Iliff[?] Ten members of the fami…1915Family of John H. Children 8, 10, 13, 15 yrs. old pul…Eight-year-old girl (see label 4006). She is very skilful [sic] topping the beets, but this work is very fatigueing [si…1915Eight-year-old girl (see label 4006). She is very ski…Eight-year-old girl (see label 4006). She is very skilful [sic] topping the beets, but this work is very fatigueing [si…1915Eight-year-old girl (see label 4006). She is very ski…Eight-year-old girl (see label 4006). She is very skilful [sic] topping the beets, but this work is very fatigueing [si…1915Eight-year-old girl (see label 4006). She is very ski…
1920s–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
Today2 recent
Iliff, Colorado2017Iliff, ColoradoCOMap-doton-Iliff2005COMap-doton-Iliff
On the map

Iliff on the map in 1951

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Iliff.

Iliff on the 1951 USGS map1951Iliff 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 Iliff.

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.

Family of John H. Children 8, 10, 13, 15 yrs. old pulling and picking beets on farm at Iliff[?] Ten members of the fami…
Retake this viewFamily of John H. Children 8, 10, 13, 15 yrs. old pulling and picking beets on farm at Iliff[?] Ten members of the fami…, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Iliff, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 322

Between 174 and 322 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Questions about Iliff’s history

What year was Iliff founded?

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

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 (2), the Library of Congress (4), 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.