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B+History
History · Yuma

Yuma’s post office opened in 1885, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns · #17 of 159 in Colorado. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Lett Hotel. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1890.

1885first post office
1on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Yuma’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Yuma began

When was Yuma founded?

1885

The Yuma post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 241 in 18902020 census: 3,456141 years

How historic is Yuma?

B+

More historic than 69% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Yuma post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Yuma’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Yuma is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #17 of 159 in Colorado. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Yuma’s overall grade.
Founding era1885, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194038.0% of homes (±11.1) · typical CO town 2.5% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register1 listing, 2.9 per 10,000 residents · typical CO town 1.1 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 69%
NewerOlder
Colorado towns of 2,500+ (159)Ahead of 90%

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 Yuma’s 2.9 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Colorado towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.1 points). 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 Yuma’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1919, drew every building in Yuma.Old housesHalf of Yuma’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Yuma’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewLayingCornerStoneYumaColoradoPostcard: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Yuma, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5001900192019401960198020002020241 in 1890Low: 139

Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Every building

Yuma, building by building, 1893–1919

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.

Yuma fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Yuma came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Yuma.

Read it all →

A post office in Yuma has been in operation since 1885. The community was named after a Native American named Yuma who worked for the railroad, died and is buried near the town site.

Yuma, Colorado is referenced in the song El Cadete by Mexican ballad band Grupo Laberinto.[1]

On August 8, 2023, a tornado touched down near the town, damaging farms.

The novels of esteemed writer Kent Haruf, such as Plainsong, are based in Holt, Colorado which is loosely based on Yuma. Haruf spent a number of years teaching at Yuma schools in the early 1980s and has family ties to the High Plains region.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Yuma, 1885 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1885Post officeThe Yuma post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1926Born hereDick Ottele is born here
  5. 1936Born hereStan Fail is born here
  6. 1954Born hereDon Brown is born here
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1974Born hereCory Gardner is born here
  9. 21st century
  10. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 3,524
By decade

Yuma, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
LayingCornerStoneYumaColoradoPostcardDate?LayingCornerStoneYumaColoradoPostcardPostcard
Today5 recent
2022-09-11 14 37 11 View southward across western Yuma County, Colorado, centered on the city of20222022-09-11 14 37 11 View southward across western Yum…Yuma, Colorado2013Yuma, ColoradoLett Hotel2013Lett HotelLett Hotel2013Lett Hotel2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBook
On the map

Yuma on the map, 1954 to 1981

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

Yuma on the 1954 USGS mapYuma on the 1976 USGS mapYuma on the 1981 USGS map1954Sterling sheet · 1:250,000

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

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.

LayingCornerStoneYumaColoradoPostcard
Retake this viewLayingCornerStoneYumaColoradoPostcard

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Yuma

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
1990
Lett Hotel
Lett Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Lett HotelVernacular

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Yuma

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Cory GardnerUnited States Senator from Colorado · b. 1974
D
Don BrownAmerican politician and farmer · b. 1954
S
Stan FailAmerican speed skater · b. 1936
D
Dick OtteleAmerican football player · b. 1926

Questions about Yuma’s history

What year was Yuma founded?

The Yuma post office opened in 1885, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Yuma rank for history?

Yuma is more historic than 69% of U.S. towns, #17 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 Yuma?

One place: the Lett Hotel (listed 1990).

How old are the homes in Yuma?

38% of Yuma’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.1 points), against a typical 2.5% for a Colorado town; the median home was built in 1958.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.