More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #101 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it
Most of Severance was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2014. Below: maps from 1960 on and the census since 1940.
Founding year: the first Severance post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Severance’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Severance is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #101 of 159 in Colorado. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Severance’s overall grade.
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 Severance’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 (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Severance’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community was named after David Severance, a pioneer settler in the area. The town originally applied for its post office to be named Tailholt, but the name was mistakenly changed to Severance when Mr. Severance applied for the post office in 1894.
In the early 1900s, the town of Severance ran a promotional campaign for citizens to farm sugar beets, to build a sugar factory in neighboring Windsor. The campaign succeeded, leading to the creation of the Great Western Sugar Company in 1905.
The Severance post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Severance rank for history?
Severance is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #101 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.
How old are the homes in Severance?
2% of Severance’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 2014.
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 (4), 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.
2024
2018
2017
2005
