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B+History
History · Meeker

Meeker’s post office opened in 1880, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it

4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 32 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1890.

1880first post office
4on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Meeker’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Meeker began

When was Meeker founded?

1880

The Meeker post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1883.

First census: 260 in 18902020 census: 2,374146 years

How historic is Meeker?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Meeker post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1883.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Meeker’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Meeker is more historic than 74% 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 Meeker’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194018.3% of homes (±8.6) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register4 listings, 35 historic buildings, 136 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
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 Meeker’s 136 sits above most of its state (96% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 35 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% 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 (±8.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1883 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 Meeker’s past

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

A historic districtThe Meeker Historic District takes in 32 historic buildings.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

4 listings protect 35 historic buildings

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

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
35
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
St. James Episcopal Church
St. James Episcopal ChurchHotel MeekerMeeker I.O.O.F. Lodge-Valentine Lodge No. 47, built 1897Meeker Historic District
BuildingsDistricts
St. James Episcopal ChurchBuilding
Hotel MeekerBuilding
Meeker I.O.O.F. Lodge-Valentine Lodge No. 47Built 1897
Meeker Historic DistrictDistrict

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

The story

How Meeker came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Meeker.

Read it all →

The town is named for Nathan Meeker, the United States Indian Agent who was killed along with 11 other white citizens by White River Ute Indians in the 1879 Meeker Incident, also known as the Meeker Massacre. The site of the uprising, the former White River Indian Agency, is located along State Highway 64 in the White River valley west of town and is marked by a prominent sign. None of the buildings remain.

Meeker was the first incorporated town in northwestern Colorado and is the county seat for Rio Blanco county. The town was incorporated in 1885 and became the central hub of banking and trade in Northwestern Colorado for several generations.

ChaptersMeeker Historic District

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Meeker, 1880 to 1991

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Meeker post office opens
  3. 1897BuiltMeeker I.O.O.F. Lodge-Valentine Lodge No. 47 is built
  4. 1898Born hereBuddy Roosevelt is born here
  5. 1898Born hereMargaret Curry is born here
  6. 20th century
  7. 1901In the archiveGov. Roosevelt and party ready for the hunt
  8. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1935Born hereNeal Blue is born here
  10. 1936Born hereLinden Blue is born here
  11. 1991In the archivePaul Bunyan sculpture
By decade

Meeker, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s3 items
Gov. Roosevelt and party ready for the hunt1901Gov. Roosevelt and party ready for the huntReturning from the chase at sunset - the wearied dogs welcome a brief halt - President Roosevelt's guide1903Returning from the chase at sunset - the wearied dogs…Troop D of Colorado state militia in Meeker, 19041904Troop D of Colorado state militia in Meeker, 1904
1910s–1980snothing 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
1990s3 items
Paul Bunyan sculpture1991Paul Bunyan sculpturePaul Bunyan sculpture1991Paul Bunyan sculptureRustic Lodge1991Rustic Lodge
Today5 recent
Bromus marginatus2012Bromus marginatus2010-1101-MeekerCO20102010-1101-MeekerCOSighting In2009Sighting InEndless2009EndlessCOMap-doton-Meeker2005COMap-doton-Meeker
On the map

Meeker on the map, 1912 to 1966

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

Meeker on the 1912 USGS mapMeeker on the 1966 USGS map1912Meeker 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 Meeker.

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.

Gov. Roosevelt and party ready for the hunt
Retake this viewGov. Roosevelt and party ready for the hunt, 1901

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Meeker, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,475

Between 260 and 2,475 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Meeker

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

See all →
Buddy RooseveltActor and stunt man · b. 1898
Neal BlueAmerican aviation executive · b. 1935
M
Margaret CurryAmerican parole officer and social worker · b. 1898
L
Linden BlueAmerican aviation executive · b. 1936
V
Verlyn KlinkenborgAmerican writer (b. 1952) · b. 1952
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Meeker’s post office has been open since 1880.

Gone or out of use
Colowyo MinemineNorthern Number One Minemine
1cemetery inside Meeker
Highland

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

Help out

Finish Meeker’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 viewGov. Roosevelt and party ready for the …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Meeker’s history

What year was Meeker founded?

The Meeker post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1883.

How does Meeker rank for history?

Meeker is more historic than 74% 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 Meeker?

4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the St. James Episcopal Church (listed 1978, the first), and 1 historic district, the Meeker Historic District, with 32 contributing buildings. 35 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Meeker?

18% of Meeker’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.6 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1976.

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