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AHistory
History · Leadville

Leadville’s post office opened in 1877, and 69% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns · #4 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Leadville Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 10 buildings between them. Below: 24 old photos and papers, maps from 1883 on, and the census since 1880.

1877first post office
5on the National Register
69%homes built before 1940
24old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Leadville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Leadville began

When was Leadville founded?

1877

The Leadville post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Oro City (1861), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 14,820 in 18802020 census: 2,633149 years

How historic is Leadville?

A

More historic than 86% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Leadville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Leadville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leadville is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #4 of 159 in Colorado. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Leadville’s overall grade.
Founding era1877, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194069.2% of homes (±10.1) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register5 listings, 13 historic buildings, 49.6 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 86%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 98%

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 Leadville’s 49.6 sits above most of its state (88% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.1 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 Leadville’s past

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

A town in old photos24 old photos, postcards and papers, 1879–1941.On the map since 18894 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1983. Watch Leadville change.Old housesHalf of Leadville’s homes were built before 1938.A National Historic Landmark5 places on the National Register, including Leadville Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · By decade

Leadville, decade by decade

6 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1880s5 items
Bird's eye view of Leadville, Lake County, Colo. 18791879Bird's eye view of Leadville, Lake County, Colo. 1879Bœhmer's topographical map of the carbonate regions in the vicinity of Leadville, Colorado - showing location of mines …1879Bœhmer's topographical map of the carbonate regions i…MapLeadville Stereoview by WH Jackson c1890 - front1880Leadville Stereoview by WH Jackson c1890 - frontLeadville Stereoview by WH Jackson c1890 - verso1880Leadville Stereoview by WH Jackson c1890 - versoBird's eye view of Leadville, Colo. 18821882Bird's eye view of Leadville, Colo. 1882
1890s–1900s5 items
John Ford Humphreys1897John Ford HumphreysArkansas smelter1900Arkansas smelterLeadville, Col1901Leadville, ColLeadville, Colo1909Leadville, ColoLeadville, Colo1909Leadville, Colo
1910s6 items
Panoramic view of Leadville in 1912, looking west. Behind the town and across the intervening valley of Arkansas River …1912Panoramic view of Leadville in 1912, looking west. Be…Olden Times in Colorado - A Rich Farm on the Mountain Top1916Olden Times in Colorado - A Rich Farm on the Mountain…Olden Times in Colorado - Leadville in its infancy1916Olden Times in Colorado - Leadville in its infancyOlden Times in Colorado - Signatures of the Committee of Safety page 11916Olden Times in Colorado - Signatures of the Committee…Olden Times in Colorado - Signatures of the Committee of Safety page 21916Olden Times in Colorado - Signatures of the Committee…Olden Times in Colorado - Types of Leadville Young Men in 18791916Olden Times in Colorado - Types of Leadville Young Me…
1940s8 items
Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]1940Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]Fishing stream near Leadville, Colorado1941Fishing stream near Leadville, ColoradoMain street1941Main streetOld mining town. Leadville, Colorado1941Old mining town. Leadville, ColoradoOld mining town. Leadville, Colorado1941Old mining town. Leadville, ColoradoOld mining town. Leadville, Colorado1941Old mining town. Leadville, Colorado
1950s–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
On the map

Leadville on the map, 1889 to 1983

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

Leadville on the 1889 USGS mapLeadville on the 1891 USGS mapLeadville on the 1942 USGS mapLeadville on the 1983 USGS map1889Leadville sheet · 1:125,000

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

The story

How Leadville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leadville.

Read it all →

The Leadville area was first settled in 1859 when placer gold was discovered by A. G. Kelley in California Gulch, and by Abe Lee in April (25/26) 1860, during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Prospectors panned for gold in the stream that ran through California Gulch in what became the town of Oro City (oro is the Spanish word for gold). Horace Tabor, who became known as the "Leadville Silver King", and his wife Augusta were among the first prospectors to arrive in Oro City. Horace was appointed as the postmaster of Oro City on November 30, 1868. His wife made money as postmistress, banker, cook, and laundress while Tabor was a prospector.

ChaptersSettlementFounding of LeadvilleMining and smeltingNotable historical figuresPost-mining era

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leadville, 1861 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861Post officeThe Oro City post office opens
  3. 1877Post officeThe Leadville post office opens
  4. 1879BuiltDexter Cabin is built
  5. 1879In the archiveBird's eye view of Leadville, Lake County, Colo. 1879
  6. 1880In the archiveLeadville Stereoview by WH Jackson c1890 - front
  7. 1886Born hereEvalyn Walsh McLean is born here
  8. 1887Born hereJune Mathis is born here
  9. 1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1895Post officeThe Oro City post office closes
  11. 1896Born hereAlphonse Burnand is born here
  12. 1897In the archiveJohn Ford Humphreys
  13. 20th century
  14. 1900In the archiveArkansas smelter
  15. 1906Born hereJohn McCuish is born here
  16. 1912In the archivePanoramic view of Leadville in 1912, looking west. Behind the town and across the interve…
  17. 1940In the archiveColorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]
  18. 1961LandmarkLeadville Historic District named a National Historic Landmark
Every building

Leadville, building by building, 1883–1895

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.

Leadville fire insurance map, 1883, sheet 11883Sheet 1 of 11
Edition
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.

Bird's eye view of Leadville, Lake County, Colo. 1879
Retake this viewBird's eye view of Leadville, Lake County, Colo. 1879, 1879

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

5 historic places in Leadville

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
5
National Historic Landmark
1
Leadville Historic District
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Leadville Historic District
Dexter Cabin, built 1879Healy HouseMatchless MineGolden Burro Cafe and LoungeLeadville Historic District★
BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Victorian1
Gothic1
Victorian Cottage1
★ Landmark
Leadville Historic DistrictVictorian
Dexter CabinBuilt 1879
Healy HouseVictorian Cottage
Matchless MineDistrict
Golden Burro Cafe and LoungeBuilding

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

People over time

Leadville, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 14,820

Between 2,602 and 14,820 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

12 famous people were born in Leadville

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

See all →
June MathisAmerican screenwriter, producer and film studio… · b. 1887
A
Alphonse BurnandSailor · b. 1896
Evalyn Walsh McLeanAmerican socialite · b. 1886
John McCuishAmerican politician · b. 1906
Thomas Harris MacDonaldAmerican civil engineer · b. 1881
R
Richard DickersonAmerican politician · b. 1937
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Leadville’s post office has been open since 1877. Another post office, Oro City, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Oro City
1861–1895
Leadville
1877–today
18601940today
Gone or out of use
A M MinemineA V MinemineBob Ingersoll MinemineBohn MinemineBon Air MinemineCapitol Northern MinemineCoronado MinemineDelante ShaftmineElk MinemineGray Eagle MinemineHome Extension MinemineLuzerne MinemineMidland ShaftmineNewell MinemineNorthern ShaftmineO'Donovan Rosa ShaftminePandora MineminePenrose Minemine

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

Help out

Finish Leadville’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.
Retake an old viewBird's eye view of Leadville, Lake Coun…: 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.

Leadville NorthIts storyC

Questions about Leadville’s history

What year was Leadville founded?

The Leadville post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Leadville rank for history?

Leadville is more historic than 86% of U.S. towns, #4 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 Leadville?

5 listings: 3 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Leadville Historic District and the Matchless Mine, with 10 contributing buildings. 13 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Leadville?

69% of Leadville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.1 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1938.

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 (16), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.