A history of Cortez,
since 1886
Postcards, papers and photographs of Cortez from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In 1886, the town was built to provide housing for the men working on the tunnels and irrigation ditches required to divert water out of the Dolores River and into Montezuma Valley. The town was named for Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. The Cortez, Colorado post office opened on June 21, 1887.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Cortez’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewThe Tacoma Times February 27 1915…, 1915: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Cortez
See all 7 →
Cortez, decade by decade
1970s
CommonsBasin Industrial Bank, Main Street1991
CommonsCommercial building, Market Street1991
CommonsTrail of the Ancients - Indian Dancers at the Cortez Cultur…1995
CommonsCover Sheet and Site Plan - Civilian Conservation Corps (CC…1999
CommonsElevations and Section - Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) …1999
CommonsFloor Framing Plan, Floor Plan, Reflected Ceiling Plan - Ci…1999
CommonsTypical Window, Interior Wall Paint Sequence, Wall Section,…19993 historic places in Cortez
3 places in Cortez are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Listed 1995Ertel Funeral Home
Listed 2009Montezuma Valley National Bank and Store Building
Listed 2016Cortez High SchoolThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as The Tacoma Times February 27 1915 article about the Bluff War in Utah (1915) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (2) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.