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History · Denver

Denver’s post office opened in 1872, and 65% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1943 on and the census since 1880.

1872first post office
0on the National Register
65%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Denver began

When was Denver founded?

1872

The Denver post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1928.

First census: 218 in 18802020 census: 32154 years
Founding year: the first Denver post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1928.The full story ↓

What stands out about Denver’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 Denver are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Denver’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 295 in 1890; 32 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Denver’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Denver’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
The story

How Denver came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Denver.

Read it all →

Denver was originally named "Fairview", and under the latter name was laid out in 1849. A variant name was "Grant's Hill". and a post office for Grant's Hill was established in 1866. The name was changed to Denver in 1872. The present name honors James W. Denver, 5th Territorial Governor of Kansas. The population in the 1870s was about 300.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Denver, census by census

010020030018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 295

Peaked at 295 in 1890; 32 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Timeline

Denver, 1872 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Denver post office opens
  3. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 295
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933Born hereRobert Sego is born here
  6. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Denver, decade by decade

Today1 recent
DenverMo2025DenverMo
On the map

Denver on the map, 1943 to 1984

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

Denver on the 1943 USGS mapDenver on the 1984 USGS map1943Grant City sheet · 1:62,500

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

Questions about Denver’s history

What year was Denver founded?

The Denver post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1928.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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), 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) 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.