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B−History
History · Loveland

Loveland’s post office opened in 1872, and 14 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns · #42 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Most of Loveland was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. 14 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 49 buildings between them. Below: 22 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
14on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
22old photos & papers
13famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Loveland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Loveland began

When was Loveland founded?

1872

The Loveland post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1877.

First census: 236 in 18802020 census: 76,378154 years

How historic is Loveland?

B−

More historic than 49% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Loveland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1877.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Loveland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Loveland is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #42 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Loveland’s overall grade.
Founding era1872, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19405.5% of homes (±1.0) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register14 listings, 69 historic buildings, 8.8 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 49%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 74%

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 Loveland’s 8.8 sits above most of its state (71% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 69 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1877 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 Loveland’s past

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

A town in old photos22 old photos, postcards and papers, 1895–1937.Mapped building by building8 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1927, drew every building in Loveland.A historic districtThe Downtown Loveland Historic District takes in 45 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register14 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · By decade

Loveland, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1910s5 items
MaggieMurphyhoax1895MaggieMurphyhoaxRev. Elkanah J. Lamb (1832-1915)1915Rev. Elkanah J. Lamb (1832-1915)Attendance at the Jeffers School on November 30, 15. 15 in attendance and more to come. Location: Loveland [vicinity], …1915Attendance at the Jeffers School on November 30, 15. …One of the families working the beets on the Bott farm. 6 working. The 8 year old girls [sic?] piles and tops. Location…1915One of the families working the beets on the Bott far…This is the attendance at the Jeffers School, #29 on November 1. 7 present out of the possible 20. Absences due chiefly…1915This is the attendance at the Jeffers School, #29 on …
1930s17 items
AIL 46-68 - DPLA - ed8fc64a22f4ec3ae0914e296630ce321937AIL 46-68 - DPLA - ed8fc64a22f4ec3ae0914e296630ce32AIL 46-69 - DPLA - c898e99d1bfd3f97894693ecbb8970c51937AIL 46-69 - DPLA - c898e99d1bfd3f97894693ecbb8970c5AIL 46-70 - DPLA - 61ebe3617b0361e86a16eeacc84d81241937AIL 46-70 - DPLA - 61ebe3617b0361e86a16eeacc84d8124AIL 46-71 - DPLA - 0e64c8238f2ad47c489aca698b01bcf01937AIL 46-71 - DPLA - 0e64c8238f2ad47c489aca698b01bcf0AIL 46-72 - DPLA - 53e6d682ec33cff65152282cdd1109f61937AIL 46-72 - DPLA - 53e6d682ec33cff65152282cdd1109f6AIL 46-73 - DPLA - 40582dad84af7f79509fdcae98a44f341937AIL 46-73 - DPLA - 40582dad84af7f79509fdcae98a44f34AIL 46-74 - DPLA - ebf0d50ca90048f739483aa7dc0d6bb31937AIL 46-74 - DPLA - ebf0d50ca90048f739483aa7dc0d6bb3AIL 46-84 - DPLA - dc091f0014490694bdc2104bd1c38acf1937AIL 46-84 - DPLA - dc091f0014490694bdc2104bd1c38acfAIL 46-85 - DPLA - 88456e6be810c03e4bba2dea98626ad81937AIL 46-85 - DPLA - 88456e6be810c03e4bba2dea98626ad8AIL 46-86 - DPLA - dba83a3ba7ca1aa38cf70071493f85dc1937AIL 46-86 - DPLA - dba83a3ba7ca1aa38cf70071493f85dcAIL 46-87 - DPLA - 358cd2c429992d32804dee27549f828a1937AIL 46-87 - DPLA - 358cd2c429992d32804dee27549f828aAIL 46-88 - DPLA - 72787d076c87c3ff162e588849efb7451937AIL 46-88 - DPLA - 72787d076c87c3ff162e588849efb745AIL 46-89 - DPLA - 803b957bfe20cd9cd147728324db5fcf1937AIL 46-89 - DPLA - 803b957bfe20cd9cd147728324db5fcfAIL 46-90 - DPLA - be354cdb206b1fab5c05ef5dd21059141937AIL 46-90 - DPLA - be354cdb206b1fab5c05ef5dd2105914AIL 46-91 - DPLA - 24cee41e8b26453a63159aba0c9da91e1937AIL 46-91 - DPLA - 24cee41e8b26453a63159aba0c9da91eAIL 46-92 - DPLA - 4e41eee00486a08d70f286d01638a2231937AIL 46-92 - DPLA - 4e41eee00486a08d70f286d01638a223AIL 46-93 - DPLA - 521dc10da287af31256189f5ed5541161937AIL 46-93 - DPLA - 521dc10da287af31256189f5ed554116
1940s–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
Every building

Loveland, building by building, 1886–1927

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.

Loveland fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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

14 listings protect 69 historic buildings

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

places listed
14
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
69
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Colorado and Southern Railway Depot
Colorado and Southern Railway DepotRialto Theater, built 1919Loveland State AmoryWilliam H. McCreery HouseA.S. Benson HouseMaude Stanfield Harter Borland HouseFirst United Presbyterian ChurchHenry K. and Mary E. Shaffer House, built 1929Downtown Loveland Historic DistrictGustav and Annie Swanson FarmPeep O Day ParkMilner-Schwarz HouseTruscott Junior High SchoolKelley House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque Revival1
Classical Revival1
Late Gothic Revival1
Second Empire1
Late Victorian1
Edwardian1
Colorado and Southern Railway DepotRomanesque Revival
Rialto TheaterClassical Revival · Built 1919
Loveland State AmoryLate Gothic Revival
William H. McCreery HouseSecond Empire
A.S. Benson HouseLate Victorian
Maude Stanfield Harter Borland HouseBungalow/Craftsman
First United Presbyterian ChurchRomanesque
Henry K. and Mary E. Shaffer HouseTudor Revival · Built 1929
All 14 listings
Downtown Loveland Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2015Gustav and Annie Swanson FarmBuilding · listed 2005Peep O Day ParkDistrict · listed 2011Milner-Schwarz HouseBuilding · listed 2014Truscott Junior High SchoolBuilding · listed 2017Kelley HouseBuilding · listed 2019

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

The story

How Loveland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Loveland.

Read it all →

The Loveland area was a hub for French fur trappers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Mariano Medina built the first settlement in the area, Fort Namaqua, in 1858. It was a trading post and stage station, and the site is now Namaqua Park.

The nearby Big Thompson, Colorado Territory, post office opened on November 12, 1862. The Namaqua, Colorado Territory, post office operated from January 28, 1868, until January 3, 1879. The Loveland, Colorado Territory, post office operated from April 4, 1872, until January 24, 1873. Colorado became a state on August 1, 1876.

ChaptersSundown Town1976 and 2013 floods

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Loveland, 1872 to 1989

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Loveland post office opens
  3. 1873Post officeThe Loveland post office closes
  4. 1878Post officeThe Loveland post office opens
  5. 1895In the archiveMaggieMurphyhoax
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1915In the archiveRev. Elkanah J. Lamb (1832-1915)
  9. 1919BuiltRialto Theater is built
  10. 1920Born hereBasil James is born here
  11. 1929BuiltHenry K. and Mary E. Shaffer House is built
  12. 1937In the archiveAIL 46-68 - DPLA - ed8fc64a22f4ec3ae0914e296630ce32
  13. 1978Born hereMolly Bloom is born here
  14. 1987Born hereEmily Rosa is born here
  15. 1989Born hereCollin Klein is born here
On the map

Loveland on the map, 1906 to 1984

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

Loveland on the 1906 USGS mapLoveland on the 1960 USGS mapLoveland on the 1984 USGS map1906Loveland sheet · 1:62,500

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

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.

MaggieMurphyhoax
Retake this viewMaggieMurphyhoax, 1895

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Loveland, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,0001880190019201940196019802000202076,378

Grew from 236 people in 1880 to 76,378 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

13 famous people were born in Loveland

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

See all →
M
Molly BloomAmerican entrepreneur and author · b. 1978
Emily RosaAmerican skeptic · b. 1987
B
Basil JamesAmerican jockey · b. 1920
Collin KleinAmerican gridiron football player and coach · b. 1989
A
Alec HansenAmerican baseball player · b. 1994
B
Brad MooreMajor League Baseball pitcher · b. 1964
Places that used to be

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

Loveland had its own post office from 1872 to 1873.

Loveland
1872–1873
Loveland
1878–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Browns CornerKings Corner
Gone or out of use
Big Thompson PitmineBoyd Lake QuarrymineCoulson Excavating PitmineCoulson PitmineHaag PitmineHaags Sand and Gravel PitmineKauffman PitmineLoveland Sugar Refinery QuarrymineMemorial HospitalhospitalSwart PitmineU.S. Gypsum Quarrymine
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Loveland
All Saints Episcopal Church ColumbariumLakesideLoveland Burial Park

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

Help out

Finish Loveland’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMaggieMurphyhoax: 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.

Johnstown3 historic placesC−Windsor2 historic placesC

Questions about Loveland’s history

What year was Loveland founded?

The Loveland post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1877.

How does Loveland rank for history?

Loveland is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns, #42 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 Loveland?

14 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Colorado and Southern Railway Depot (listed 1982, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Downtown Loveland Historic District and the Peep O Day Park, with 49 contributing buildings. 69 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Loveland?

6% of Loveland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1993.

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 (19), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (14), 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.