Pueblo’s post office opened in 1860, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #14 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
59 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 78 buildings between them. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1883 on, and the census since 1870.
The Pueblo post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1885. Another post office, Eden (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 666 in 18702020 census: 111,876166 years
How historic is Pueblo?
B+
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Pueblo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1885.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Pueblo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Pueblo is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #14 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 Pueblo’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Pueblo ranks #152 on History.
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 Pueblo’s 13.6 sits above most of its state (75% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 152 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1885 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 →
What stands out about Pueblo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Pueblo, building by building, 1883–1905
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.
From 1050 to 1450, the area that is now Pueblo was first inhabited by Paleo-Indians and Archaic peoples, as well as people of the Apishapa culture. By 1500, the Ute hunter-gatherers inhabited the region, who hunted in the mountains during the summer and wintered in warmer areas, such as modern-day Pueblo, during the winter. In 1521, Spain assumed control of the land, however, very little settlement or occupation ever occurred. By the time of the 17th century, the Ute acquired horses from the Spanish allowing them to hunt bison on the plains. The Ute bands of the Pueblo area were the Tabaguache and the Muache. Along the eastern Arkansas River, the Jicarilla Apache lived in villages and hunted bison, and grew corn, beans, and squash.
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.
The Pueblo post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1885.
How does Pueblo rank for history?
Pueblo is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #14 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 Pueblo?
59 listings: 51 buildings, among them the Goodnight Barn (listed 1974, the first), 3 historic districts, the Pitkin Place Historic District, the Union Avenue Historic Commercial District and the Pueblo City Park Zoo, with 78 contributing buildings, 2 sites, 2 structures, and 1 object. 152 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Pueblo?
21% of Pueblo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (8), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (59), 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.
c. 1870
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