The story
Read it all →How Ridgway came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Ridgway.
Ridgway began as a railroad town, serving the nearby mining towns of Telluride and Ouray.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
DHistory
History · Ridgway
Ridgway was first counted by the census in 1900
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Ridgway was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2003. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1900.
1900first census
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Quick answers
How Ridgway began
When was Ridgway founded?
1900
Ridgway first appears in the census in 1900.
First census: 245 in 19002020 census: 1,183126 years
How historic is Ridgway?
D
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Ridgway’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ridgway is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ridgway’s overall grade.
Founding era1900, from the first census: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19408.1% of homes (±6.1) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical CO town 1.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 15%
NewerOlder
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 Ridgway’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).
Founding year: the first census (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 Ridgway’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · People over time
Ridgway, census by census
Lost half of its people between 1920 and 1950, then grew 5-fold.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Ridgway’s Wikipedia page.
By decade
Ridgway, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1930s–1940s18 items
1939Improvised protection for a stream bank
1939Farmland in Pleasant Valley near Ridgway, Ouray Count…
1940Improvised protection for a stream bank 1a34183v
1940Improvised protection for a stream bank
1940Potato race Ridgway, Colorado - 1
1940Potato race Ridgway, Colorado - 2
1940Potato race Ridgway, Colorado - 3
1940Potato race Ridgway, Colorado - 4
1940Potato race Ridgway, Colorado - 5
1940Free barbecue, Labor Day
1940Improvised protection from stream bank
1940Barbecue pit on Labor Day
1940Boys' sack race, Labor Day celebration
1940Boys' sack race at Labor Day celebration
1940Spectators at childrens' races, Labor Day celebration
1940Taking barbecue off the fire, Labor Day
1940Potato race for children at Labor Day celebration
1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Free barbecue, L…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 albumTimeline
Ridgway, 1890 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the map
Ridgway on the map, 1967 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Ridgway. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1967Ridgway 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 Ridgway.
Every building
Ridgway, building by building, 1908–1914
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.
1908Sheet 1 of 1Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 viewImprovised protection for a stream bank, 1939
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Ridgway’s page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Ridgway
Nobody well known was born in Ridgway itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places that used to be
Places now gone
Gone or out of use
Ridgway Fire DepartmentbuildingUncompahgre Placer Minemine
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Ridgway’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.Questions about Ridgway’s history
What year was Ridgway founded?
The Ridgway post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Ridgway rank for history?
Ridgway is more historic than 15% 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.
How old are the homes in Ridgway?
8% of Ridgway’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 2003.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (11), Wikipedia, 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.