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C+History
History · Nederland

Nederland’s post office opened in 1874, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1880.

1874first post office
0on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Nederland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Nederland began

When was Nederland founded?

1874

The Nederland post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1885. Another post office, Middle Boulder (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 279 in 18802020 census: 1,471152 years

How historic is Nederland?

C+

More historic than 36% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Nederland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1885.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Nederland’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nederland is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Nederland’s overall grade.
Founding era1874, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.6% of homes (±9.0) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical CO town 1.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 36%
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 Nederland’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±9.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1885 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 Nederland’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1910 and 1950, then grew 5-fold.On the map since 19103 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1972. Watch Nederland change.
★ What stands out · People over time

Nederland, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60018801900192019401960198020002020446 in 1910Low: 266

Lost a third of its people between 1910 and 1950, then grew 5-fold.

13 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Nederland on the map, 1910 to 1972

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

Nederland on the 1910 USGS mapNederland on the 1942 USGS mapNederland on the 1972 USGS map1910Central City 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 Nederland.

The story

How Nederland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nederland.

Read it all →

Nederland was established in 1874. The town started as a trading post between Ute Indians and European settlers during the 1850s. The town's first economic boom came when minerals such as tungsten, silver, and gold were discovered near Tungsten (east of Nederland), Caribou (northwest of Nederland, 1859), and Eldora (west of Nederland, 1875).

ChaptersName origin

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nederland, 1871 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871Post officeThe Middle Boulder post office opens
  3. 1874Post officeThe Middle Boulder post office closes
  4. 1874Post officeThe Nederland post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1975In the archiveAluminum collector cups-557314
  8. 1983Born hereIan MacGregor is born here
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 1,471
By decade

Nederland, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s8 items
Aluminum collector cups-5573141975Aluminum collector cups-557314BLACKENED ALUMINUM COLLECTOR CUPS ARE THE HEART OF THE SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTOR DEVELOPED BY THE INTERNATIONAL... - NARA …1975BLACKENED ALUMINUM COLLECTOR CUPS ARE THE HEART OF TH…BLACKENED ALUMINUM COLLECTOR CUPS ARE THE HEART OF THE SOLAR ENERGY COLLECTOR DEVELOPED BY THE INTERNATIONAL... - NARA …1975BLACKENED ALUMINUM COLLECTOR CUPS ARE THE HEART OF TH…ELECTRONIC MEASURING DEVICE IN THE OFFICE-LABORATORY OF INTERNATIONAL SOLARTHERMICS CORPORATION. THE DEVICE SHOWN... - …1975ELECTRONIC MEASURING DEVICE IN THE OFFICE-LABORATORY …JOHN KEYES, PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL SOLARTHERMICS CORPORATION, SHOWN WITH THE BACKYARD SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM HE... - …1975JOHN KEYES, PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL SOLARTHERMICS …JOHN KEYS, PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL SOLARTHERMICS CORPORATION, BESIDE A CUTAWAY MODEL OF THE BACKYARD SOLAR HEATING..…1975JOHN KEYS, PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL SOLARTHERMICS C…MANUFACTURING FACILITY OF SUNGLOW CORPORATION, WHERE BACKYARD SOLAR HEATING UNITS ARE MADE UNDER LICENSE FROM... - NARA…1975MANUFACTURING FACILITY OF SUNGLOW CORPORATION, WHERE …MANUFACTURING FACILITY OF SUNGLOW CORPORATION, WHERE BACKYARD SOLAR HEATING UNITS ARE MADE UNDER LICENSE FROM... - NARA…1975MANUFACTURING FACILITY OF SUNGLOW CORPORATION, WHERE …
1980s–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
Today10 recent
Steamshovel2009SteamshovelAspen Trees Colorado 22009Aspen Trees Colorado 2Aspen Trees Colorado 12009Aspen Trees Colorado 1Nederland CO downtown 22008Nederland CO downtown 2Nederland CO downtown 12008Nederland CO downtown 1Nederland Colorado city limit sign2007Nederland Colorado city limit signNederland (Colorado)2006Nederland (Colorado)Nederland colorado22005Nederland colorado2DSCN2870 nederlandtrailer e 6002005DSCN2870 nederlandtrailer e 600Nederland sign2000Nederland sign
Every building

Nederland, building by building, 1914

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.

Nederland fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Aluminum collector cups-557314
Retake this viewAluminum collector cups-557314, 1975

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Nederland’s post office has been open since 1874. Another post office, Middle Boulder, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Middle Boulder
1871–1874
Nederland
1874–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
1903 MinemineAnchor MinemineBig Six MinemineChaves MinemineCold Spring One MinemineCold Spring Three MinemineCold Springs Number Four MinemineColorado Springs Tungsten Placer MinemineComstock Peat Lode MinemineCross Number Four MinemineCrow Number Thirty-six MinemineFitzsimons Number One MinemineFord MinemineGolden Reward MinemineHollifield and Prime MinemineHoosier Extension MinemineHurricane MinemineJack and Summit Minemine
1cemetery inside Nederland
Nederland

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

Help out

Finish Nederland’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAluminum collector cups-557314: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Nederland’s history

What year was Nederland founded?

The Nederland post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1885.

How does Nederland rank for history?

Nederland is more historic than 36% 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.

How old are the homes in Nederland?

18% of Nederland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.0 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1978.

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 (18), 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.