Washington County, Colorado

Map and Place Name Directory

Map Legend
Towns	Black - Current towns Brown - Old post offices and abandoned townsites Yellow - Built up areas (city limits)
Roads	Red - US Highways / Interstate Black - Colorado Highways
Rivers	Blue - South Platte (near Messex) Arikaree (near Cope)
Cemeteries	Green - Black box with cross shows location.

Some notes about this map:

The Cope cemetery is actually located on the north side of highway 59 overlooking the river. I didn't have room on the map to place the icon there.

About half of the small post offices shown on the map moved at least once while they were in operation, sometimes over quite a distance. See the Gazetteer below.

Didn't find your desired placename on the map? If it isn't in the Gazetteer provided below, I suggest you check the School and School Districts listing.

Gazetteer for the Historical Map

Abbott: Rural post office that operated from 1887 to 1926 north of Lindon. The location shown on my map is from maps published 1906-1947. The Postal Service archives place the first Abbott six miles southwest very near the cemetery.

Abbott Cemetery: The Abbott church cemetery was established in 1913 and is still in use.

Akron: Platted in 1882 by the Lincoln Land Co at the Burlington railroad division headquarters. RR officials named the division and new town for the city of Akron, Ohio. Post office established in Jan 1883. Has been Washington County seat since 1887.

Akron Cemetery: The first Akron town cemetery was established in 1886 south of the railroad. It was later moved to its present location just west of town. The cemetery records are maintained by the Akron Town Clerk.

Alkali: Shown on county map in Atlas of Colorado Ghost Towns but nothing else is known.

Anton: Small community on US 36. The Anton post office opened in 1916 and is still in operation.

Arickaree: Arickaree moved twice after the post office opened in 1888 east of Thurman on the north bank of the Arickaree River. The first move in 1920 was up to the corner of what is now US 36 and Road LL as shown on the map. In 1941 it moved a few miles further northeast where it remained until the post office closed in 1961. Arickaree was named for the Arikaree river but the post master general "corrected" the spelling.

Badger: Rural post office that operated from 1890 to 1894 west of Thurman.

Bird Cemetery: Not much is known about Brick. It is shown south of Cope on an undated early map.- Colorado Genealogical Society listing

Brunker: Rural post office that operated from 1907 to 1917 about 12 miles south of Akron. The name is a variation of the name of the postmaster, James Brukher .

Burdett: Rural post office north of Otis that operated from 1888 to 1937. Named for William Burdett who settled on Rock Creek in 1870.

Burdett Cemetery: The Burdett cemetery was established in 1893 on land donated by the Preston family. It is still in use.

Calhoun: Railroad siding between Otis and Hyde.

Clark: Census precinct located south of Pinneo.

Cody: May be another name for Xenia station. Shown as a stop on the C.B. & Q. railroad on an 1895 Colorado map very near Xenia which was not shown.

Cope: Small town on US 36 in southeast Washington County. The Cope post office was established in 1889 and is still in operation. Cope was named for Jonathan Cope who in 1887 started a "tree claim" on the land where the town now stands. The "Cope Grove" was used for picnics and camp meetings for years thereafter.

Cope Cemetery: The Cope cemetery was established in 1889 on land donated by E.E. Brown south of Cope on Highway 59. It is still in use.

Corcoran: Rural post office that operated from 1889 to 1894 west of Cope.

County Line: 1930s stop southwest of Pinneo on the old Akron - Brush Highway (today's County Road 40).

Curtis: Rural post office that operated from 1888 to 1901. Location on my map is from maps published from 1890 to 1906. Postal service archives place Curtis north of Pinneo. Named for John Curtis, the first postmaster.

Curtis Cemetery: The Curtis cemetery was established in 1894 on land donated to the local Lutheran church by the Godfrey Gehrig family for his burial. It was in use until at least 1919. The church has burned and many original markers are missing.

De Nova: Rural post office that operated from 1915 to 1955 north of Cope.

Dillingham: Rural post office that operated from 1911 to 1920 north of Arickaree. Named for William Dillingham, first postmaster.

Easyville: Easyville was platted northwest of Akron in 1899 and didn't go anywhere.

Elba: Rural post office that operated from 1910 to 1958 south of Akron. Elba moved twice. The map shows the 1916 to 1940 location where it operated for the longest period.

Elba Cemetery: The Elba cemetery was established about 1911 on land donated by Joe Plummer and Anton Massek. It was in use through the 1930s but was later abandoned.

Fairview - Hyde Cemetery: Fairview cemetery was established about 1886. Few of the original markers still exist.

Flat Top: Rural post office from 1915 to 1921 south of Last Chance on Highway 71.

Fremont: Rural post office located southwest of Cope that was in operation from 1908 to 1914.

Fremont Butte: According to an 1885 Colorado map, Pinneo station was originally named Fremont's Butte station after the nearby butte.

Glen: 1905 to 1920 post office south of Lindon near the Lincoln County line.

Glen Chapel Cemetery: E 1/2 of 28, 5S 54W - First burial 1905. The Glen cemetery started as a private cemetery about 1913 and wasn't formally deeded until 1923.

Gray: Rural post office operated by Frank Gray from 1888 to 1889 south of Cope.

Harmon: Siding on C.B.&Q. railroad between Otis and Platner.

Harrisburg: Rural post office that, according to the postal service archives, moved four times in the area north of Anton between the time it in opened in 1887 and when it closed in 1955. The map shows the 1908 to 1942 location.

Henry: Rural post office from 1907 to 1917 south of Platner. Named for Charles Henry the first postmaster.

High Prairie: Community centered around the High Prairie high school. The school was near the Lee Cemetery on the map above.

Holmesville: Not much is known about Holmesville. It is shown on an undated map of the area.

Hope Cemetery: The Hope cemetery was established about 1892 as a private family cemetery by E.E. Pinney. A few years later he donated it to the community to use for a church and cemetery. The church was never built and services were held in the Pinney home and in the Hope school. The last burial was in 1959.

Hyde: The Hyde post office opened in 1882 on the railroad predating the town of Hyde which was platted in 1886. Hyde was a bustling community for many years but in the long term failed to meet the competition offered by Otis and Yuma. The post office was closed in 1940.

Last Chance: Small cross-roads community established in 1925 at the intersection of what is now US 36 and Highway 71. In 1925, no matter which way you were traveling, if you passed up Last Chance you had a long distance to travel to find another place to get gas for your Model T. Last Chance never had an official post office but residents remember individual mail boxes in the general store.

Lawton: 1930s name for a community very near today's Woodlin school.

Lee Cemetery: The Lee cemetery was established in 1916 on land purchased from Bazel Lee. It is still in infrequent use.

Leslie: Small community in northeast Washington County. The Leslie main street ran along the Yuma County line. The Leslie post office operated from 1888 to 1896.

Lindon: The Lindon post office was established in 1888 several miles north of its present location. It has moved twice since then. The final move down to US 36 occurred about 1920. According to some sources the name is a variation on the name of L.J. Lindbeck an early resident of the area.

Lone Star: Community centered around the K-12 Lone Star school in the northeast corner of the county. The first teacher in the original grade school district was from Texas and suggested the reference to her state's flag as the name for the grade school.

Meekton: Rural post office that operated from 1910 to 1918 north of Arickaree.

Messex: Messex is a small community on the Union Pacific R.R. on the north bank of the Platte River in the extreme northwest corner of the county. The Messex post office opened in 1907 and closed in 1942. Community is said to be named for Joe Messex, a Union Pacific employee who was killed near there.

Midland: General store located 14 miles north of Akron on what is now Higway 63. It was also known as the Ross store when John and Hetty Parks purchased it in 1930. It was the final home of the Waitley post office after the PO was moved from the Owens farm and Hetty Park was appointed postmaster. History didn't relate why it was named Midland.

Midway: Small community located 11 miles west of Akron on US 34. Named Midway because it was halfway between Akron and Brush.

Millett: Short-lived 1890 post office named for its postmaster, Olive Millett. Same site as the later Platner post office.

Otis: Established in 1883 as a stop on the Burlington rail line. The post office opened in 1886 and the town was platted in 1887. Source of the name is unknown but it may be the middle name of the first postmaster, Erastus O. Seeley

Otis Cemetery: The Otis cemetery was established in 1888 on land donated by James Stewart on a hill south of town. Evidence exists that suggests burials at least three years earlier than that. It is still in use.

Pinneo, Pineo: Pinneo was a rail stop on the Burlington rail line near the Morgan County border. The Pinneo post office operated from 1883 to 1898 and again from 1906 to 1931. Some sources say Pinneo was named after B.J. Pinneo a Weld County deputy sheriff when the rail line was laid. An 1885 Colorado map shows Pinneo as "Fremonts Butte." Pinneo was pure railroad with a two story station, two story section house, temporary quarters for railroad track gangs, water tank and a stockyard to load livestock.

Platner: Small town on US 34 between Otis and Akron. The Platner post office was in operation from 1892 to 1957. Named for Nicholas Plattner an early settler in the area.

Plum Bush: Post office that operated from 1910 to 1918 on Plum Bush Creek northeast of Last Chance.

Poverty Flat: 1930s name for the area just north of Fremont Butte

Prairie: 1910 to 1917 post office southwest of Akron.

Rago: Rural post office that operated from 1912 to 1951. The map shows the 1918-1951 location; the first site was five miles further north.

Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery: This Catholic church cemetery on Road DD just east of Akron was established in 1916 on land Conrad Heer donated to the church for use as a Catholic burial site. It is still in use.

Schlueter: 1910-1913 post office in the extreme northern part of the county. Named for its postmasters, Herman and Anna Schlueter.

Schmetgen Cemetery: Directly north of Anton, single grave 1933-1934, Mrs. ....... Schmetgen - Colorado Genealogical Society listing

Spence: Rural post office that operated from 1910 to 1920 southwest of Lindon.

Summit Springs: The July 11, 1869 fight at Summit Springs was the last gasp of the Plains Indians in Colorado. An Indian raiding party attacked western Kansas settlements and with several captives acquired during the raid joined other Indians camped at Summit Springs. Elements of the US 5th Cavalry tracked the raiders and on July 11th attacked the camp. 52 Indians were killed. Mrs. Susanna Alderdice, one of the captives, was killed before the attack and is buried near the site.
Two footnotes to the action: Mrs. Alderdice was the wife of Thomas Alderdice, who was one of Col. Forsythe's scouts in the battle at Beecher Island the previous September, and Wm. F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was then surving as a scout for the US 5th Cav and participated in the fight.

Surveyor's Creek: Early name for the Millett/Platner rail stop located near where the railroad bridged Surveyors Creek. The creek with headwaters south of Akron joins Rock Creek in northern Yuma County.

Swan Cemetery: Named for the Swan family this cemetery was established about 1911 and is still in infrequent use by the family.

Thurman or Stone City: The Thurman post office operated from 1888 to 1955 in the southern part of the county.

Thurman Cemetery: The Thurman cemetery was established about 1888 as a Mennonite cemetery. It is still in use.

Townsend: Rural post office that operated from 1890 to 1893 south of Lindon.

Waitley: Post office that operated north of Akron from 1915 to 1936. Waitley is another of the many rural post offices that moved from place to place. The map shows the location in 1936 when it closed. Waitley appears to have been named after its second postmaster.

Wagner: Shown on 1942 map just north of DeNova. Little else is known.

Wiladel: Small community some 12 miles northwest of Cope centered around the Wiladel school (1916-1959) which is still used as a community center.

Woodlin: K-12 school in southwest Washington County between Last Chance and Lindon. The name was coined during the consolidation of the Woodrow and Lindon school districts.

Woodrow: Post office established in 1913 and still in operation. Named for Woodrow Wilson who became president the year the post office opened.

Xenia: Station on the Burlington rail line west of Akron. Never had a post office.

Younger, Samuel, Grave of: Sec 5, 3N 52W - single grave, date unknown - Colorado Genealogical Society listing

Zysset, Werner, Grave of: SE 1/4 of 21, 1N 51W - Single 1910 grave - Colorado Genealogical Society listing

Notes:

Didn't find a name you are certain was in Washington County? Check our list of Schools and School districts.
Dates shown are mostly postal information. I need your help to determine when these communities were founded and folded.
For a State-wide list of Colorado place names, see Don Stanwyck's Colorado Places by County.
If you have corrections to this listing please sent them to mdmonk2@tx.rr.com along with a note providing your source of information.

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This page was last updated Thursday, 01-Dec-2011 03:56:23 MST

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