The story
Read it all →How Padroni came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Padroni.
Padroni was named for George and Tom Padroni, early settlers.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
How Padroni began
When was Padroni founded?
1909
The Padroni post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 97 in 20002020 census: 75117 years
Founding year: the first Padroni post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Padroni’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Padroni’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Padroni’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
Padroni, 1909 to 1952
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
Padroni, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1940s1 item
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 albumToday1 recent
2017On the map
Padroni on the map, 1952 to 1983
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Padroni. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1952Padroni sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Padroni.
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.
Retake this viewColorado - Golden through Paoli, 1943
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Padroni’s page.
Retake this view · +15People over time
Padroni, census by census
Between 75 and 97 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Padroni’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Padroni
Nobody well known was born in Padroni itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
D
Dan ChaonAmerican writer · b. 1964
N
Nancy Ekholm BurkertAmerican illustrator · b. 1933L
Larry BarnesAmerican football player · b. 1931Questions about Padroni’s history
What year was Padroni founded?
The Padroni post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), Wikipedia, 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.