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History · Norwood

Norwood’s post office opened in 1887, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Ruble-Orendorf Mercantile. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1910.

1887first post office
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0
Quick answers

How Norwood began

When was Norwood founded?

1887

The Norwood post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 212 in 19102020 census: 535139 years
Founding year: the first Norwood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Norwood’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 Norwood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norwood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Norwood’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
The story so far

Norwood, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Norwood yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Norwood is a statutory town in San Miguel County, Colorado, United States. The population was 535 at the 2020 census. A post office called Norwood has been in operation since 1887. The community was named after Norwood, Missouri, the native home of a first settler.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 518 to 535 (+3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Norwood, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Ruble-Orendorf Mercantile2026Ruble-Orendorf MercantileNorwood (Colorado) city limit sign2020Norwood (Colorado) city limit signNorwood (Colorado) Town Hall2020Norwood (Colorado) Town HallGrand Avenue in2020Grand Avenue inCosta 000050 172265 517432 45782016Costa 000050 172265 517432 4578Costa 000050 172265 517432 4578 (36623166101) (cropped)2016Costa 000050 172265 517432 4578 (36623166101) (croppe…Norwood, Colorado2013Norwood, ColoradoWestern Colorado West of San Juan Mountains2006Western Colorado West of San Juan MountainsWestern Colorado West of San Juan Mountains2006Western Colorado West of San Juan MountainsWestern Colorado West of San Juan Mountains2006Western Colorado West of San Juan MountainsCOMap-doton-Norwood2005COMap-doton-Norwood
On the map

Norwood on the map in 1964

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Norwood.

Norwood on the 1964 USGS map1964Norwood sheet · 1:24,000

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

Every building

Norwood, building by building, 1908–1914

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 year, then a sheet.

Norwood fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 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

1 historic place in Norwood

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2023
Ruble-Orendorf Mercantile
Ruble-Orendorf Mercantile
Buildings
All 1 listings
Ruble-Orendorf MercantileBuilding · listed 2023

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

People over time

Norwood, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020535

Grew from 212 people in 1910 to 535 in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Norwood’s post office has been open since 1887.

Gone or out of use
Big Mack MinemineMad Jack Number One MinemineMineral Minemine

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

Questions about Norwood’s history

What year was Norwood founded?

The Norwood post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Norwood?

One place: the Ruble-Orendorf Mercantile (listed 2023).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.