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History · Ouray

Ouray’s post office opened in 1875, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 270 buildings. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1880.

1875first post office
3on the National Register
25%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Ouray’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Ouray began

When was Ouray founded?

1875

The Ouray post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 864 in 18802020 census: 898151 years
Founding year: the first Ouray post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Ouray’s past

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

A historic districtThe Ouray Historic District takes in 270 historic buildings.A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1939.On the map since 19023 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1983. Watch Ouray change.Boom and bustPeaked at 2,534 in 1890; 898 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 listings protect 272 historic buildings

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

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
272
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Beaumont Hotel
Beaumont HotelOuray City Hall and Walsh Library, built 1899Ouray Historic District
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Roman1
Greek1
American Victorian1
Italianate1
Romanesque1
Western Vernacular1
Beaumont HotelBuilding
Ouray City Hall and Walsh LibraryRoman · Built 1899
Ouray Historic DistrictItalianate

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

By decade

Ouray, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1900s12 items
Wiesbaden Hot Springs original building 18791880sWiesbaden Hot Springs original building 1879Ouray ca. 1890c. 1890Ouray ca. 1890Aerial view of Ouray, Colorado1896Aerial view of Ouray, ColoradoColorado. "American-Nettie" mine1898Colorado. "American-Nettie" mineD&RG 168, Class 47, T-12, Ouray, Colorado engine house1900D&RG 168, Class 47, T-12, Ouray, Colorado engine houseOuray, Colorado, 19011901Ouray, Colorado, 1901Ouray, Colorado, 19011901Ouray, Colorado, 1901Ouray, Colorado1901Ouray, ColoradoOuray, Colorado1901Ouray, ColoradoOuray, Colorado - by J.W. Henderson1902Ouray, Colorado - by J.W. HendersonOuray, Colorado1902Ouray, ColoradoOuray, Colorado1903Ouray, Colorado
1910s–1930s5 items
Ouray, Colorado1915Ouray, ColoradoOuray, Colorado, mountain scene1915Ouray, Colorado, mountain sceneOuray, Colorado1939Ouray, ColoradoOuray, Colorado1939Ouray, ColoradoBox canyon near Ouray, Colorado1939Box canyon near Ouray, Colorado
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
On the map

Ouray on the map, 1902 to 1983

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

Ouray on the 1902 USGS mapOuray on the 1955 USGS mapOuray on the 1983 USGS map1902Ouray 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 Ouray.

The story

How Ouray came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ouray.

Read it all →

Established by miners seeking silver and gold in the surrounding mountains, the town once boasted more horses and mules than people. Prospectors arrived in the area in 1875. In 1877, William Weston and George Barber found the Gertrude and Una gold veins in Imogene Basin, six miles south southwest of Ouray. Thomas Walsh acquired the two veins and all the open ground nearby. In 1897, Walsh opened the Camp Bird Mine, adding a twenty-stamp mill in 1898, and a forty-stamp mill in 1899. The mine produced almost 200,000 ounces of gold by 1902, when Walsh sold out to Camp Bird, Ltd. By 1916, Camp Bird, Ltd., had produced over one million ounces of gold.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Ouray, 1875 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875Post officeThe Ouray post office opens
  3. 1880In the archiveWiesbaden Hot Springs original building 1879
  4. 1883Born hereHoward Wright Cutler is born here
  5. 1889Born hereWilliam Lee Knous is born here
  6. 1890In the archiveOuray ca. 1890
  7. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 2,534
  8. 1899BuiltOuray City Hall and Walsh Library is built
  9. 20th century
  10. 1900In the archiveD&RG 168, Class 47, T-12, Ouray, Colorado engine house
  11. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  12. 1907Born hereJohn Baptist Wolf is born here
  13. 1915In the archiveOuray, Colorado
  14. 1918Born hereGordon M. Graham is born here
  15. 1939In the archiveOuray, Colorado
Every building

Ouray, building by building, 1886–1908

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.

Ouray fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
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.

Wiesbaden Hot Springs original building 1879
Retake this viewWiesbaden Hot Springs original building 1879, 1880s

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Ouray, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,534

Peaked at 2,534 in 1890; 898 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Ouray

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

See all →
William Lee KnousAmerican jurist · b. 1889
Gordon M. GrahamAmerican flying ace · b. 1918
H
Howard Wright CutlerAmerican architect · b. 1883
J
John Baptist WolfAmerican historian · b. 1907
R
Robert Lee KnousAmerican politician · b. 1917
J
Jeff RusselCanadian football player · b. 1900
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Ouray’s post office has been open since 1875.

Gone or out of use
Whippoorwill Minemine

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

Help out

Finish Ouray’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 viewWiesbaden Hot Springs original building…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Ouray’s history

What year was Ouray founded?

The Ouray post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Ouray?

Three places: the Beaumont Hotel (listed 1973), the Ouray City Hall and Walsh Library (1975) and the Ouray Historic District (1983).

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 (7), the Library of Congress (10), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.