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History · Nucla

Nucla’s post office opened in 1904, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1972 on.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Nucla’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Nucla began, and where its name came from

When was Nucla founded?

1904

The Nucla post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 585122 years

How did Nucla get its name?

Nucla’s name comes from the town founders' intent that it serve as a "nucleus" for the surrounding farms and mines, although it has since come to be associated with the growth of uranium mining in the region.

Founding year: the first Nucla post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
The story

How Nucla came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Nucla.

Read it all →

There are several prehistoric sites near Nucla on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties:

Cottonwood Cave is a large rock shelter inhabited by 270 BC and the earliest date at which corn was found in the state of Colorado.

Tabeguache Pueblo is an example of an early, dispersed Ancient Pueblo settlement, inhabited about AD 1100 and later abandoned.

The town was established by socialists, who emphasized the sharing of things. The name of the town comes from the word nucleus.

In 1990, residents of Nucla hosted the first Top Dog World Championship Prairie Dog Shoot competition, which resulted in killing nearly 3,000 prairie dogs.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Nucla, 1904 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Nucla post office opens
  3. 1943Born hereBill Symons is born here
  4. 1972In the archiveCATTLE DRIVE IN SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO. (FROM THE SITES EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN TH…
By decade

Nucla, decade by decade

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

1970s6 items
CATTLE DRIVE IN SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO. (FROM THE SITES EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN THIS ASSIGNMENT, SEE FICHE NUMBE…1972CATTLE DRIVE IN SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO. (FROM THE SITE…COLORADO--NUCLA1972COLORADO--NUCLAIRRIGATED FARM. (FROM THE SITES EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN THIS ASSIGNMENT, SEE FICHE NUMBERS 20, 21, 22, 23.)1972IRRIGATED FARM. (FROM THE SITES EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER…POWER LINES AT RURAL ELECTRIC ADMINISTRATION POWER PLANT1972POWER LINES AT RURAL ELECTRIC ADMINISTRATION POWER PL…POWER PLANT1972POWER PLANTSOFT COAL-BURNING POWER PLANT1972SOFT COAL-BURNING POWER PLANT
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
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.

CATTLE DRIVE IN SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO. (FROM THE SITES EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN THIS ASSIGNMENT, SEE FICHE NUMBE…
Retake this viewCATTLE DRIVE IN SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO. (FROM THE SITES EXHIBITION. FOR OTHER IMAGES IN THIS ASSIGNMENT, SEE FICHE NUMBE…, 1972

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Nucla’s post office has been open since 1904.

Gone or out of use
Cottonwood MinemineFarmer Boy Minemine

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

Help out

Finish Nucla’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 viewCATTLE DRIVE IN SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO. …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Nucla’s history

What year was Nucla founded?

The Nucla post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.