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History · Lewis

Lewis’ post office opened in 1911

Most of Lewis was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1956 on.

1911first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Lewis began

When was Lewis founded?

1911

The Lewis post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 257115 years
Founding year: the first Lewis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Lewis’ past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Lewis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
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Start Lewis’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Lewis, in brief

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

Lewis is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The Lewis post office has the ZIP Code 81327. At the 2020 census, the population of the Lewis CDP was 257, down from 302 in 2010.

Its first post office opened in 1911. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 302 to 257 (-15%).

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

By decade

Lewis, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Lewis, Colorado2020Lewis, ColoradoA large barn, grain elevator, and warehouse in tiny Lewis settlement north of Cortez in Montezuma County, Colorado2015A large barn, grain elevator, and warehouse in tiny L…A large barn, grain elevator, and warehouse in tiny Lewis settlement north of Cortez in Montezuma County, Colorado2015A large barn, grain elevator, and warehouse in tiny L…US-CO - Lewis - Sign - New Mexico - North America - The West - Southwest2009US-CO - Lewis - Sign - New Mexico - North America - T…
On the map

Lewis on the map, 1956 to 1962

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

Lewis on the 1956 USGS mapLewis on the 1962 USGS map1956Cortez 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 Lewis.

Famous people

Famous people close to Lewis

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

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Jaye P. MorganAmerican popular music singer, actress, and gam… · b. 1931
C
Chuck NevittAmerican basketball player · b. 1959
Eli TomacAmerican motorcycle racer · b. 1992
Allie LightAmerican film director and film producer · b. 1935
Ira C. OwensUnited States general · b. 1936
L
Luther EllissAmerican football player and coach · b. 1973

Questions about Lewis’ history

What year was Lewis founded?

The Lewis post office opened in 1911, 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 →
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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 (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.