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History · Ophir

Ophir was first counted by the census in 1880, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1897 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first census
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ophir’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ophir began

When was Ophir founded?

1880

Ophir first appears in the census in 1880.

First census: 130 in 18802020 census: 197146 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Ophir’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1940, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18973 editions of the USGS map, 1897 to 1955. Watch Ophir change.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1865–1940.
★ What stands out · People over time

Ophir, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020130 in 1880Low: 2

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1880 and 1940, then grew more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

On the map

Ophir on the map, 1897 to 1955

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

Ophir on the 1897 USGS mapOphir on the 1904 USGS mapOphir on the 1955 USGS map1897Telluride 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 Ophir.

By decade

Ophir, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1900s5 items
Salt Lake coach leaving Ophir.Alternate Title: Utahc. 1865Salt Lake coach leaving Ophir.Alternate Title: UtahOphir,CO1890Ophir,COOphir Loop1893Ophir LoopOphir co ca1900c. 1900Ophir co ca1900Ophir High Line Trestles1905Ophir High Line Trestles
1910s–1940s13 items
OphirLoopc. 1910OphirLoopOphir station 1940 21940Ophir station 1940 2Ophir station 1940 31940Ophir station 1940 3Ophir station 19401940Ophir station 1940Trestle bridge near Ophir Colorado19401940Trestle bridge near Ophir Colorado1940Ophir hotel. Ophir Colorado1940Ophir hotel. Ophir ColoradoGeneral store. Ophir, Colorado1940General store. Ophir, ColoradoUntitled photo, possibly related to: Ophir hotel. Ophir Colorado1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Ophir hotel. Oph…Liquor store at Ophir, Colorado1940Liquor store at Ophir, ColoradoRailway station at Ophir, Colorado1940Railway station at Ophir, ColoradoOphir, Colorado. A gold mining town1940Ophir, Colorado. A gold mining townAbandoned gold mill at Ophir, Colorado1940Abandoned gold mill at Ophir, ColoradoNarrow gauge railroad station at Ophir, Colorado1940Narrow gauge railroad station at Ophir, Colorado
1950s–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
The story

How Ophir came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ophir.

Read it all →

A post office called Ophir was established in 1878. The town was named after Ophir, a place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ophir, 1865 to 2020

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1865In the archiveSalt Lake coach leaving Ophir.Alternate Title: Utah
  3. 1890In the archiveOphir,CO
  4. 1897On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveOphir co ca1900
  7. 1910In the archiveOphirLoop
  8. 1940In the archiveOphir station 1940 2
  9. 21st century
  10. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 197
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.

Salt Lake coach leaving Ophir.Alternate Title: Utah
Retake this viewSalt Lake coach leaving Ophir.Alternate Title: Utah, c. 1865

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Deadwood MinemineIron Springs Group MinemineVera Minemine

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Ophir’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSalt Lake coach leaving Ophir.Alternate…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ophir’s history

What year was Ophir founded?

The Ophir post office opened in 1880, 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 (9), the Library of Congress (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.