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History · Pitkin

Pitkin’s post office opened in 1879

Most of Pitkin was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1880.

1879first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Pitkin began

When was Pitkin founded?

1879

The Pitkin post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Quartzville (1879), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,891 in 18802020 census: 72147 years
Founding year: the first Pitkin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Pitkin’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Pitkin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1910, drew every building in Pitkin.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Pitkin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pitkin’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Pitkin, building by building, 1893–1910

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.

Pitkin fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Pitkin, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pitkin yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Pitkin is a statutory town in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The population was 72 at the 2020 census. Pitkin was founded in 1879, and is said to be Colorado's first mining camp west of the Continental Divide. Originally named Quartzville, it was renamed to honor Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin.

Its first post office opened in 1879. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 66 to 72 (+9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Pitkin, 1879 to 1941

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Post officeThe Pitkin post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Quartzville post office opens
  4. 1879Post officeThe Quartzville post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Pitkin, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Quartz Creek (Gunnison County, Colorado)2014Quartz Creek (Gunnison County, Colorado)Pitkin, Colorado2014Pitkin, ColoradoCOMap-doton-Pitkin2005COMap-doton-Pitkin
On the map

Pitkin on the map, 1941 to 2001

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

Pitkin on the 1941 USGS mapPitkin on the 1964 USGS mapPitkin on the 2001 USGS map1941Pitkin 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 Pitkin.

People over time

Pitkin, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,891

Between 44 and 1,891 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Pitkin

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

See all →
L
Leslie WhiteAmerican anthropologist · b. 1900
Heidi MontagAmerican television personality · b. 1986
P
Patricia ElliottAmerican actress, singer · b. 1938
Donna AndersonAmerican actress · b. 1939
A
Aaron SimpsonAmerican sport wrestler and martial artist · b. 1974
R
Robert James EatonU.S. automobile businessman · b. 1940
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Pitkin’s post office has been open since 1879. Another post office, Quartzville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Pitkin
1879–today
Quartzville
1879–1879
18701950today

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

Questions about Pitkin’s history

What year was Pitkin founded?

The Pitkin post office opened in 1879, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (3), 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.