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History · Sugar City

Sugar City was first counted by the census in 1900, and 60% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1900.

1900first census
0on the National Register
60%homes built before 1940
13old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sugar City’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sugar City began

When was Sugar City founded?

1900

Sugar City first appears in the census in 1900.

First census: 689 in 19002020 census: 259126 years
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓

What stands out about Sugar City’s past

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

On the map since 18913 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1981. Watch Sugar City change.Old housesHalf of Sugar City’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 836 in 1920; 259 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos13 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · On the map

Sugar City on the map, 1891 to 1981

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

Sugar City on the 1891 USGS mapSugar City on the 1954 USGS mapSugar City on the 1981 USGS map1891Catlin sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sugar City.

The story

How Sugar City came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sugar City.

Read it all →

A post office called Sugar City has been in operation since 1900. The community was named for the fact it once was a sugar manufacturing center.

Sugar City was named for its sugar beet factory, established in 1899. It was owned by the National Beet Sugar Company. During a drought in the 1950s the wastewater lagoons at the factory dried, producing a smell that overwhelmed the town. The factory closed in 1967.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Sugar City, census by census

02004006008001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 836

Peaked at 836 in 1920; 259 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Timeline

Sugar City, 1891 to 1936

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Sugar City post office opens
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 836
  6. 1936In the archiveAG 282-84 - DPLA - 5bb4fab030d6001dece5cf408f932ab3
By decade

Sugar City, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s4 items
AG 282-84 - DPLA - 5bb4fab030d6001dece5cf408f932ab31936AG 282-84 - DPLA - 5bb4fab030d6001dece5cf408f932ab3AG 286-11 - DPLA - 5576fca7d99a8b57968a42eeec673c401936AG 286-11 - DPLA - 5576fca7d99a8b57968a42eeec673c40AG 286-69 - DPLA - e5e33c7de804558061dad855f006f7901936AG 286-69 - DPLA - e5e33c7de804558061dad855f006f790AG 286-72 - DPLA - 26bc495e437b55ac2ebbf3014e39a93b1936AG 286-72 - DPLA - 26bc495e437b55ac2ebbf3014e39a93b
1940s–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 album
Date unknown9 to date
AG 282-82 - DPLA - a785b67e5fd238dc0f68b97205aea6e6Date?AG 282-82 - DPLA - a785b67e5fd238dc0f68b97205aea6e6AG 282-86 - DPLA - f5cdb501d963c192072d53e8d79c95f9Date?AG 282-86 - DPLA - f5cdb501d963c192072d53e8d79c95f9AG 282-88 - DPLA - e2035b9e6fd038c96202526c0e08b7e5Date?AG 282-88 - DPLA - e2035b9e6fd038c96202526c0e08b7e5AG 282-90 - DPLA - 9fba12550d441d542936e88db47a32c6Date?AG 282-90 - DPLA - 9fba12550d441d542936e88db47a32c6AG 286-09 - DPLA - 825407c6fe41db88d12132c3e702c744Date?AG 286-09 - DPLA - 825407c6fe41db88d12132c3e702c744AG 286-13 - DPLA - 96a0fa6efd5ea85ad9fd26fb0a483c1bDate?AG 286-13 - DPLA - 96a0fa6efd5ea85ad9fd26fb0a483c1bAG 286-15 - DPLA - f40bfbd32981cfd3d00999011b8102aeDate?AG 286-15 - DPLA - f40bfbd32981cfd3d00999011b8102aeAG 286-67 - DPLA - f0f26c76a73b735617cd64fafa7a4f58Date?AG 286-67 - DPLA - f0f26c76a73b735617cd64fafa7a4f58AG 286-71 - DPLA - c27156661852579491c5e107d3f13bf0Date?AG 286-71 - DPLA - c27156661852579491c5e107d3f13bf0
Today2 recent
Elevator in Sugar City, Colorado2023Elevator in Sugar City, ColoradoSugar City, Colorado2017Sugar City, Colorado
Every building

Sugar City, building by building, 1905–1911

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.

Sugar City fire insurance map, 1905, sheet 11905Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
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.

AG 282-84 - DPLA - 5bb4fab030d6001dece5cf408f932ab3
Retake this viewAG 282-84 - DPLA - 5bb4fab030d6001dece5cf408f932ab3, 1936

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sugar City’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Start Sugar City’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo9 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewAG 282-84 - DPLA - 5bb4fab030d6001dece5…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Sugar City’s history

What year was Sugar City founded?

The Sugar City post office opened in 1900, 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 (15), 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.