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B−History
History · Ordway

Ordway’s post office opened in 1890, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1900.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ordway’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ordway began

When was Ordway founded?

1890

The Ordway post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 138 in 19002020 census: 1,066136 years

How historic is Ordway?

B−

More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Ordway’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ordway is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ordway’s overall grade.
Founding era1890, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194034.7% of homes (±8.2) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational 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 50%
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 Ordway’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 (±8.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Ordway’s past

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

On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1981. Watch Ordway change.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1915–1939.
★ What stands out · On the map

Ordway on the map, 1891 to 1981

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

Ordway on the 1891 USGS mapOrdway on the 1954 USGS mapOrdway on the 1981 USGS map1891Catlin sheet · 1:125,000

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

By decade

Ordway, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s18 items
This is the Day Nursery in the beet fields. Babies have to amuse themselves under the direction of those who are too sm…1915This is the Day Nursery in the beet fields. Babies ha…Eleven-year old Elizabeth who has been working in the sugar beets near Ordway, Colorado, for one year. The family moved…1915Eleven-year old Elizabeth who has been working in the…Eleven-year old Elizabeth who has been working in the sugar beets near Ordway, Colorado, for one year. The family moved…1915Eleven-year old Elizabeth who has been working in the…[Eleven-year old Elizabeth who has been working in the sugar beets near Ordway, Colorado, for one year. The family move…1915[Eleven-year old Elizabeth who has been working in th…Irrigation gate and canal near Ordway, Colorado1939Irrigation gate and canal near Ordway, ColoradoBarn and barnyard of Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration client), near Ordway, Colorado1939Barn and barnyard of Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Se…Mrs. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., wife of successful client, with her daughter on farm near Ordway, Colorado1939Mrs. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., wife of successful client, w…Mrs. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., wife of successful client, with her daughter on farm near Ordway, Colorado1939Mrs. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., wife of successful client, w…Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, examining his honeydew melons grown on his farm at Ordwa…1939Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration…Mr. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, with honeydew melons grown on his farm near Ordway, …1939Mr. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administra…Mrs. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., wife of FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, feeding her chickens on farm near Ordway, C…1939Mrs. Ernest W. Kirk Jr., wife of FSA (Farm Security A…Ernest W. Kirk Jr., with team of mules which was bought with FSA (Farm Security Administration) loan. Near Ordway, Colo…1939Ernest W. Kirk Jr., with team of mules which was boug…Ernest W. Kirk Jr., successful FSA (Farm Security Administration) client of Ordway, Colorado, standing in the midst of …1939Ernest W. Kirk Jr., successful FSA (Farm Security Adm…Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, amidst the honeydew melons which he is raising on his fa…1939Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration…Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, squatting in a field of sugar beets which he is raising …1939Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration…Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, with ear of corn which he raised on his farm near Ordway…1939Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration…Fruits of the soil on farm of Ernest W. Kirk Jr. ,FSA (Farm Security Administration) client. Ordway, Colorado. Shown in…1939Fruits of the soil on farm of Ernest W. Kirk Jr. ,FSA…Home of Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Administration) client near Ordway, Colorado. He runs an irrigated forty…1939Home of Ernest W. Kirk Jr., FSA (Farm Security Admini…
1940s–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 Ordway came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ordway.

Read it all →

A post office called Ordway has been in operation since 1890. The community was named after George N. Ordway, a Denver politician.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ordway, 1890 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Ordway post office opens
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1907Born herePalmer Burch is born here
  6. 1915In the archiveThis is the Day Nursery in the beet fields. Babies have to amuse themselves under the dir…
  7. 1939In the archiveIrrigation gate and canal near Ordway, Colorado
  8. 1970Born hereKevin J. Grantham is born here
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.

This is the Day Nursery in the beet fields. Babies have to amuse themselves under the direction of those who are too sm…
Retake this viewThis is the Day Nursery in the beet fields. Babies have to amuse themselves under the direction of those who are too sm…, 1915

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ordway, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,290

Between 138 and 1,290 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Ordway

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

See all →
Kevin J. GranthamAmerican politician in Colorado · b. 1970
P
Palmer BurchAmerican politician · b. 1907
Help out

Finish Ordway’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 viewThis is the Day Nursery in the beet fie…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ordway’s history

What year was Ordway founded?

The Ordway post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ordway rank for history?

Ordway is more historic than 50% 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 Ordway?

35% of Ordway’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1968.

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 the Library of Congress (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) 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.