Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Wiley

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Wiley

Wiley’s post office opened in 1907, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Wiley Rock Schoolhouse. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1910.

1907first post office
1on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Wiley began

When was Wiley founded?

1907

The Wiley post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 197 in 19102020 census: 437119 years
Founding year: the first Wiley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Wiley’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 Wiley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18923 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1984. Watch Wiley change.Boom and bustPeaked at 589 in 1930; 437 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wiley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wiley’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
On the map

Wiley on the map, 1892 to 1984

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

Wiley on the 1892 USGS mapWiley on the 1955 USGS mapWiley on the 1984 USGS map1892Lamar 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 Wiley.

People over time

Wiley, census by census

0100200300400500600192019401960198020002020Peak: 589

Peaked at 589 in 1930; 437 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Wiley, in brief

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

Wiley is a statutory town in Prowers County, Colorado, United States. The population was 437 at the 2020 Census.

Its first post office opened in 1907. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 405 to 437 (+8%).

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

Timeline

Wiley, 1892 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1907Post officeThe Wiley post office opens
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 589
By decade

Wiley, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Wley, Colorado2013Wley, Colorado
Every building

Wiley, building by building, 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 sheet.

Wiley fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Wiley

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2004
Wiley Rock Schoolhouse
Wiley Rock Schoolhouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Early 20th Century American Movements1
Wiley Rock SchoolhouseEarly 20th Century American Movements

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Wiley’s post office has been open since 1907.

Gone or out of use
Wiley Pitmine

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

Questions about Wiley’s history

What year was Wiley founded?

The Wiley post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Wiley?

One place: the Wiley Rock Schoolhouse (listed 2004).

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 (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.