Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Parachute was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listing is the Wasson-McKay Place. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1910.
The Parachute post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1908. Another post office, Grand Valley (1904), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Parachute is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Parachute’s 14.1 sits above most of its state (76% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Parachute’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Parachute.
The town's name comes from Parachute Creek, which runs through the township before it merges with the Colorado River. The Ute people originally called the creek Pahchouc (meaning twins), with early settlers mispronouncing the word as parachute. In 1908, the town was renamed Grand Valley but in the 1980s was changed back to Parachute.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltWasson-McKay Place is built
Born hereDorothy Dearing is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Parachute. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Parachute.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 268 people in 1910 to 1,390 in 2020, 5 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Parachute’s Wikipedia page.
Parachute’s post office has been open since 1885. Another post office, Grand Valley, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Parachute post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1908.
Parachute is more historic than 43% 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.
One place: the Wasson-McKay Place (listed 2010).
6% of Parachute’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1992.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2013
2012
2012
2011
2005