Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Its Register listings are the Santa Fe Railway Manzanola Depot and the Manzanola United Methodist Church (MUMC). Below: maps from 1891 on and the census since 1910.
The Manzanola post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Catlin (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Manzanola’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Manzanola. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Manzanola.
Peaked at 578 in 1930; 341 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Manzanola’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Manzanola.
A post office called Manzanola has been in operation since 1895. The town was named for an orchard near the original town site, Manzanola being a name derived from Spanish meaning "red apple".
Manzanola was previously known as Town of Grams Ranch, Town of Apishipa, and the Town of Catlin, in consecutive order.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 sheet.
1909Sheet 1 of 1Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Nobody well known was born in Manzanola itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Manzanola’s post office has been open since 1895. Another post office, Catlin, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Manzanola post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Two places: the Santa Fe Railway Manzanola Depot (listed 2004) and the Manzanola United Methodist Church (MUMC) (2024).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
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2010