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History · Blende

Blende’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Blende. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
5recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Blende is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Pueblo, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the Blende CDP was 788 at the United States Census 2020. Blende has never had a post office, but the Pueblo post office (Zip Code 81006) serves the area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 878 to 788 (-10%). Half of its homes were built before 1955.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Blende yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Blende’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from BlendeWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Blende.Meet them →
By decade

Blende, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
Today5 photos
Blende, ColoradoCommonsBlende, Colorado2020An array of signs, including the entryway neon of the Mesa Drive-in Theater, established in 1951LOCAn array of signs, including the entryway neon of the Mesa …2015The ticket booth of the Mesa Drive-in Theater, established in 1951LOCThe ticket booth of the Mesa Drive-in Theater, established …2015The ticket booth of the Mesa Drive-in Theater, established in 1951 in Blende, a Pueblo, Colorado, a gritty suburb of Pu…CommonsThe ticket booth of the Mesa Drive-in Theater, established …2015An array of signs, including the entryway neon of the Mesa Drive-in Theater, established in 1951 in Blende, a Pueblo, C…CommonsAn array of signs, including the entryway neon of the Mesa …2015
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Blende is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Blende has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo, 0.7 miles away.

Blende and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Blende. Tap a dot.
Roselawn CemeteryEdison SchoolSanta Fe Avenue BridgeQuaker Flour MillMinnequa Steel Works Office Building and Dispensary, Colorado Fuel and Iron CompanyTutt Building

Closest to Blende

Roselawn CemeteryPueblo · Site0.7miEdison SchoolPueblo · Building1.8miSanta Fe Avenue BridgePueblo · Structure2.1miQuaker Flour MillPueblo · Building2.4miMinnequa Steel Works Office Building and Dispensary, Colorado Fuel and Iron CompanyPueblo · Building2.5mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Roselawn Cemetery’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Blende?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Blende’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Pueblo📜 Boone📜 Rye📜 Florence

From Wikimedia Commons (3) and the Library of Congress (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

We left the porch light on

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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