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C+History
History · Lakewood

Lakewood dates to 1889, and 7 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #65 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Most of Lakewood was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 20 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1960.

1889founded
7on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lakewood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lakewood began

When was Lakewood founded?

1889

Lakewood dates its founding to 1889 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 19,338 in 19602020 census: 155,984137 years

How historic is Lakewood?

C+

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1865.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lakewood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lakewood is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #65 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lakewood’s overall grade.
Founding era1889, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.7% of homes (±0.6) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register7 listings, 24 historic buildings, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 36%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 59%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Lakewood ranks #278 on History.

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 Lakewood’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (52% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 24 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Lakewood’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1889.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Lakewood’s past

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

Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lakewood, and 11 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register7 places on the National Register.Famous sons and daughtersChris Broderick, Gregg Henry and 8 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lakewood had its own post office from 1892 to 1942. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hutchinson
1865–1894
Lakewood
1892–1942
Spivak
1928–1966
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Applewood GlenCarmody EstatesCollege West EstatesDaniels GardenEdgemontGreen GablesGreen MountainGreen Mountain VillageMountain View EstatesSpivakWestgate
Gone or out of use
Alameda Junior High SchoolschoolAmerican Medical Center Cancer Research CenterhospitalApplewood Knolls Cottage SchoolschoolAxford Cottage SchoolschoolBancroft SchoolschoolBelmont Junior High SchoolschoolChieftain MinemineCleveland Heights Cottage SchoolschoolCottage School Number 1schoolDaniels SchoolschoolDevinny Cottage SchoolschoolGlennon Heights Cottage School Number 2schoolLakewood Brick and Tile PitmineLakewood Pottery PitmineLasley Cottage School Number 3schoolNorth Chieftain PitmineSouth Chieftain PitmineWard Lateralcanal
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lakewood
Atonement Lutheran Church ColumbariumSaint Joseph Episcopal Church ColumbariumSaint Paul's Episcopal Columbarium

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

7 listings protect 24 historic buildings

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

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
24
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Stone House
Stone HouseJewish Consuptives' Relief SocietySchnell FarmDavies' Chuck Wagon DinerOffice of Civil Defense Emergency Operations CenterBuilding 710, Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, Region 6 Operations CenterDenver and Intermountain Railroad Interurban No. 25
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements2
Foursquare1
Prefabricated Diner1
Underground Quonset Hut1
Underground1
Standard Gauge, Electric-Powered Interurban Railroad Passenger Car1
Stone HouseBuilding
Jewish Consuptives' Relief SocietyDistrict
Schnell FarmLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements
Davies' Chuck Wagon DinerLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements
All 7 listings
Office of Civil Defense Emergency Operations CenterBuilding · listed 1999Building 710, Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, Region 6 Operations CenterBuilding · listed 2000Denver and Intermountain Railroad Interurban No. 25Structure · listed 2012

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

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Lakewood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Chris BroderickAmerican guitarist · b. 1970
Gregg HenryAmerican actor · b. 1952
Derek CianfranceAmerican film director and screenwriter · b. 1974
H
Hayden ByerlyAmerican actor · b. 2000
"Dr. Death" Steve WilliamsAmerican professional and amateur wrestler, foo… · b. 1960
Jeb BrovskyAmerican soccer player · b. 1988
The story

How Lakewood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lakewood.

Read it all →

The Lakewood region was historically inhabited by the Ute people.

The urban and suburban development of the community known as Lakewood was started in 1889 by Charles Welch and W.A.H. Loveland, who platted a 13-block area along Colfax Avenue west of Denver in eastern Jefferson County. Loveland, the former president of the Colorado Central Railroad, retired to the new community of Lakewood after many years of living in Golden. The Lakewood, Colorado, post office opened on April 21, 1892, although much of the future city was served by the Denver, Colorado, post office.

ChaptersDecember 2021 shooting

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lakewood, 1865 to 2000

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865Post officeThe Hutchinson post office opens
  3. 1889
    FoundingLakewood is established
  4. 1892Post officeThe Lakewood post office opens
  5. 1894Post officeThe Hutchinson post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1928Post officeThe Spivak post office opens
  8. 1937In the archiveAIN 47-43 - DPLA - 9a382842db4c9ee4e12774280bc70e57
  9. 1942Post officeThe Lakewood post office closes
  10. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1952Born hereGregg Henry is born here
  12. 1966Post officeThe Spivak post office closes
  13. 1970Born hereChris Broderick is born here
  14. 1974Born hereDerek Cianfrance is born here
  15. 1975In the archiveBACKYARD SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM BEING INSTALLED AT A HOME THE SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED BY INTER…
  16. 21st century
  17. 2000Born hereHayden Byerly is born here
By decade

Lakewood, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
AIN 47-43 - DPLA - 9a382842db4c9ee4e12774280bc70e571937AIN 47-43 - DPLA - 9a382842db4c9ee4e12774280bc70e57
1940s–1960snothing 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
1970s1 item
BACKYARD SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM BEING INSTALLED AT A HOME THE SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED BY INTERNATIONAL SOLARTHERMICS... - NA…1975BACKYARD SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM BEING INSTALLED AT A HO…
1980s–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 unknown3 to date
Sunset colorado 7-7-05Date?Sunset colorado 7-7-05Air Force Plant PJKS, Systems Integration Laboratory, Waterton Canyon Road & Colorado Highway 121Date?Air Force Plant PJKS, Systems Integration Laboratory,…Air Force Plant PJKS, Systems Integration Laboratory, Components Test Laboratory, Waterton Canyon Road & Colorado Highw…Date?Air Force Plant PJKS, Systems Integration Laboratory,…
Today5 recent
KEPN transmitter site, Lakewood, CO 2023-09-012023KEPN transmitter site, Lakewood, CO 2023-09-01Airman with a search and extraction team with the Utah Air National Guard, rappels down a wall during Vigilant Guard 20…2013Airman with a search and extraction team with the Uta…Mosko Holiday Manor--Lakewood, Colorado2010Mosko Holiday Manor--Lakewood, ColoradoWC13thwads2008WC13thwadsSinclair Dinosaur2008Sinclair Dinosaur
On the map

Lakewood on the map, 1948 to 1980

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

Lakewood on the 1948 USGS mapLakewood on the 1957 USGS mapLakewood on the 1965 USGS mapLakewood on the 1971 USGS mapLakewood on the 1980 USGS map1948Fort Logan 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 Lakewood.

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.

AIN 47-43 - DPLA - 9a382842db4c9ee4e12774280bc70e57
Retake this viewAIN 47-43 - DPLA - 9a382842db4c9ee4e12774280bc70e57, 1937

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lakewood, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000160,0001960198020002020155,984

Grew from 19,338 people in 1960 to 155,984 in 2020, 8 times over.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Help out

Start Lakewood’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewAIN 47-43 - DPLA - 9a382842db4c9ee4e127…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Applewood3 historic placesCDenver324 historic placesA−Dakota Ridge1 historic placeC−EdgewaterIts storyCWest Pleasant View2 historic placesB+Wheat Ridge5 historic placesC+East Pleasant ViewIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMorrison5 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGolden18 historic placesB

Questions about Lakewood’s history

What year was Lakewood founded?

In 1889, according to Wikidata. Lakewood’s post office opened in 1865, and the census of 1960 counted 19,338 people here.

How does Lakewood rank for history?

Lakewood is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #65 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 Lakewood?

7 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Stone House (listed 1975, the first), 2 historic districts, the Jewish Consuptives' Relief Society and the Schnell Farm, with 20 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 24 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Lakewood?

3% of Lakewood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1977.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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) 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.