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B−History
History · Palmer Lake

Palmer Lake dates to 1871, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #36 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Peggy Hill Cabin. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1900.

1871founded
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Palmer Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Palmer Lake began

When was Palmer Lake founded?

1871

Palmer Lake dates its founding to 1871 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 166 in 19002020 census: 2,636155 years

How historic is Palmer Lake?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1887.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Palmer Lake’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palmer Lake is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #36 of 159 in Colorado. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Palmer Lake’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.9% of homes (±6.1) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 7.6 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 78%

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 Palmer Lake’s 7.6 sits above most of its state (68% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points). Two sources give 1871.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 →

The story

How Palmer Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palmer Lake.

Read it all →

The earliest known area inhabitants were Native American tribes - the Mountain Ute, Arapahoe, Kiowa, and Cheyenne. The earliest recorded non-Native activity in the area was the Army's Major Stephen Long Expedition of 1820, which discovered the Colorado State Flower, the white and lavender columbine, somewhere between Monument and Palmer Lake. Many homesteaded ranches and farms straddled the El Paso-Douglas County line as early as the 1860s. David McShane is credited with being one of the first homesteaders, 1865, in the Town of Monument. Henry Limbach and his family were also early arrivals and had much to do with planning and developing of Monument which prospered as the commercial hub for the area on arrival of the railroad.

ChaptersCritical role and a refugeBeginnings of agriculture and the Air Force Academy

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palmer Lake, 1871 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1871
    FoundingPalmer Lake is established
  3. 1874In the archivePalmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, looking north. El Paso County, Colorado
  4. 1887Post officeThe Palmer Lake post office opens
  5. 1896In the archivePhobe's Arch
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archivePhoebe's Arch
  8. 1922In the archivePalmer Lake, Colorado ca. 1922
  9. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Palmer Lake, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1900s6 items
Palmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, looking north. El Paso County, Colorado1874Palmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, looking north. El…Palmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, looking north. El Paso County, Colorado1874Palmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, looking north. El…Phobe's Arch1896Phobe's ArchPhobe's Arch1898Phobe's ArchPhoebe's Arch1900Phoebe's ArchPhoebe's Arch1902Phoebe's Arch
1920s2 items
Palmer Lake, Colorado ca. 19221922Palmer Lake, Colorado ca. 1922Phoebe's Arch1929Phoebe's Arch
1930s–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
Today16 recent
Pioneer Cabin Cemetery Marker2023Pioneer Cabin Cemetery MarkerPalmer Lake, Colorado, general view2023Palmer Lake, Colorado, general viewPalmer Lake no. 22023Palmer Lake no. 2Palmer Lake no. 2 dam2023Palmer Lake no. 2 damPalmer Lake footbridge2023Palmer Lake footbridgePalmer Lake city limit sign2023Palmer Lake city limit signPalmer Lake Fire Department2023Palmer Lake Fire DepartmentLower Reservoir Dam2023Lower Reservoir DamBen Lomand Mountain2023Ben Lomand MountainVillage Green gazebo in Palmer Lake, CO IMG 51832010Village Green gazebo in Palmer Lake, CO IMG 5183The lake at Palmer Lake, CO IMG 51772010The lake at Palmer Lake, CO IMG 5177Palmer Lake, CO, welcome sign IMG 51742010Palmer Lake, CO, welcome sign IMG 5174Palmer Lake, CO, Public Library IMG 51862010Palmer Lake, CO, Public Library IMG 5186Palmer Lake, CO, Elementary School IMG 51812010Palmer Lake, CO, Elementary School IMG 5181Palmer Lake, CO, Art Center IMG 51782010Palmer Lake, CO, Art Center IMG 5178Little Log Church, Palmer Lake, CO IMG 51802010Little Log Church, Palmer Lake, CO IMG 5180
On the map

Palmer Lake on the map, 1954 to 1994

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

Palmer Lake on the 1954 USGS mapPalmer Lake on the 1969 USGS mapPalmer Lake on the 1975 USGS mapPalmer Lake on the 1994 USGS map1954Palmer Lake sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Palmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, looking north. El Paso County, Colorado
Retake this viewPalmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, looking north. El Paso County, Colorado, 1874

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Palmer Lake

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2025
Peggy Hill Cabin
Peggy Hill Cabin
Buildings
All 1 listings
Peggy Hill CabinBuilding · listed 2025

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

People over time

Palmer Lake, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50019001920194019601980200020202,636

Grew from 166 people in 1900 to 2,636 in 2020, more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Palmer Lake

Nobody well known was born in Palmer Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Talcott ParsonsAmerican sociologist · b. 1902
Lon ChaneyAmerican actor · b. 1883
Scott Walker45th Governor of Wisconsin · b. 1967
Kelly BishopAmerican actress · b. 1944
John RomeroAmerican video game designer · b. 1967
Christian McCaffreyAmerican football player · b. 1996
Places that used to be

Old corners

Palmer Lake’s post office has been open since 1887.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Glen ParkPine Crest

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

Help out

Finish Palmer Lake’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 viewPalmer Lake on the Colorado Divide, loo…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Monument1 historic placeC

Questions about Palmer Lake’s history

What year was Palmer Lake founded?

In 1871, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Palmer Lake’s post office opened in 1887, and the census of 1900 counted 166 people here.

How does Palmer Lake rank for history?

Palmer Lake is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #36 of 159 in Colorado. 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.

What is on the National Register in Palmer Lake?

One place: the Peggy Hill Cabin (listed 2025).

How old are the homes in Palmer Lake?

12% of Palmer Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1990.

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 Wikimedia Commons (19), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.