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B−History
History · Limon

Limon’s post office opened in 1903, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Limon Railroad Depot and the Rock Island Snow Plow No. 95580. Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1910.

1903first post office
2on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Limon began

When was Limon founded?

1903

The Limon post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Limon Station (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 534 in 19102020 census: 2,043123 years

How historic is Limon?

B−

More historic than 47% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Limon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Limon is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Limon’s overall grade.
Founding era1903, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194018.3% of homes (±9.8) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register2 listings, 11.9 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 47%
NewerOlder

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 Limon’s 11.9 sits above most of its state (74% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.8 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 Limon’s 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 Limon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1984. Watch Limon change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Limon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Limon on the map, 1891 to 1984

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

Limon on the 1891 USGS mapLimon on the 1970 USGS mapLimon on the 1984 USGS map1891Limon 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 Limon.

The story

How Limon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Limon.

Read it all →

Railroads were the major factor for Limon's original founding and location. The Kansas Pacific Railroad made its way across the plains from southern Kansas following the Smoky Hill Trail in 1870. In 1888, the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad (now the Kyle Railroad) made its way west to east from Colorado Springs, entering Lincoln County and intersecting the Kansas Pacific (now Union Pacific) at the present day location of Limon. This union of the two railroads was the earliest founding of the "Hub City".

ChaptersPorter lynching1990 tornado

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Limon, 1889 to 1903

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889BuiltLimon Railroad Depot is built
  3. 1889Post officeThe Limon Station post office opens
  4. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903Post officeThe Limon Station post office closes
  7. 1903Post officeThe Limon post office opens
By decade

Limon, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Park sign at the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad Park2016Park sign at the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad P…Windmill at the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad Park2016Windmill at the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad Pa…Windmill at the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad Park2016Windmill at the Limon Heritage Museum and Railroad Pa…A mural titled "Limon Heritage," by Rand Hood2016A mural titled "Limon Heritage," by Rand HoodUS 24 EB exit from I-25 SB, Colorado Springs2014US 24 EB exit from I-25 SB, Colorado SpringsLimon, Colorado2013Limon, Colorado2 11 cv 1165 SECOND LIQUIDATION PLAN OF RECEIVER John A Beckstead20132 11 cv 1165 SECOND LIQUIDATION PLAN OF RECEIVER John…BookLimon Colorado2012Limon ColoradoArne Duncan with first grade students on Constitution Day2012Arne Duncan with first grade students on Constitution…Rip's Ice Cream Caboose2011Rip's Ice Cream CabooseCozy Cafe, U.S. Highways 40-24-287 and 71⦠always welcomeâ¦2011Cozy Cafe, U.S. Highways 40-24-287 and 71⦠always we…
Every building

Limon, building by building, 1913–1920

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.

Limon fire insurance map, 1913, sheet 11913Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

2 historic places in Limon

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2003
Limon Railroad Depot
Limon Railroad Depot, built 1889Rock Island Snow Plow No. 95580
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Limon Railroad DepotLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1889
Rock Island Snow Plow No. 95580Structure

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

People over time

Limon, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,071

Between 534 and 2,071 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Limon’s post office has been open since 1903. Another post office, Limon Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Limon Station
1889–1903
Limon
1903–today
18801950today
1cemetery inside Limon
Pershing Memorial

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

Questions about Limon’s history

What year was Limon founded?

The Limon post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Limon rank for history?

Limon is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns. 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 Limon?

Two places: the Limon Railroad Depot (listed 2003) and the Rock Island Snow Plow No. 95580 (2018).

How old are the homes in Limon?

18% of Limon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.8 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 (7), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.