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Estes Park, Colorado

Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. A popular summer resort and the location of the headquarters for Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park lies along the Big Thompson River. Landmarks include The Stanley Hotel and The Baldpate Inn. The town overlooks Lake Estes and Olympus Dam.

Early history
Before Europeans came to the Estes Park valley, the Arapaho Native Americans lived there in the summertime and called the valley "the Circle." When three elderly Arapahoes visited Estes Park in 1914, they pointed out sites they remembered from their younger days. A photograph at the Estes Park Museum identified the touring party as Shep Husted, guide; Gun Griswold, a 73-year-old judge; Sherman Sage, a 63-year-old chief of police; Tom Crispin, 38-year-old reservation resident and interpreter; Oliver W. Toll, recorder; and David Robert Hawkins, a Princeton student.

In the 1850s, the Arapaho had spent summers camped around Mary's Lake, where their rock fireplaces, tipi sites, and dance rings were still visible. They also recalled building eagle traps atop Longs Peak to get the war feathers coveted by all tribes. They remembered their routes to and from the valley in detail, naming trails and landmarks. They pointed out the site of their buffalo trap, and described the use of dogs to pack meat out of the valley. Their recollections included a battle with Apaches in the 1850s, and fights with Utes who came to the area to hunt bighorn sheep, so all three of those tribes used the valley's resources.

Whites probably came into the Estes Park valley before the 1850s as trappers, but did not stay long. The town is named after Missouri native Joel Estes, who founded the community in 1859. Estes moved his family there in 1863. One of Estes' early visitors was William Byers, a newspaper editor who wrote of his attempted ascent of Longs Peak in 1864, publicizing the area as a pristine wilderness.

Griff Evans and his family came to Estes Park in 1867 to act as caretakers for the former Estes ranch. Recognizing the potential for tourism, he began building cabins to accommodate travelers. It became a dude ranch in Estes Park, with guides for hunting, fishing, and mountaineering; when Isabella Bird arrived in 1873, Evans already had nine men and women as guests.

The 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, a young Anglo-Irish peer, arrived in late December 1872 under the guidance of Texas Jack Omohundro, subsequently made numerous visits, and decided to take over the valley for his own private hunting preserve. Lord Dunraven's 'land grab' didn't work, but he controlled 6,000 acres before he changed tactics and opened the area's first resort, the Estes Park Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1911.

Bird, the daughter of an Anglican minister, came overland to Colorado, where she borrowed a horse and set out to explore the Rocky Mountains with a guide, the notorious James Nugent, aka 'Rocky Mountain Jim'. She wrote A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, a memoir of their travels, including the breathtaking ascent of Longs Peak, where she was literally hauled up the steep pitches "like a bale of goods."

On June 19, 1874, Rocky Mountain Jim and neighbor Griff Evans (see above) had an argument. Having had bitter history with each other, Nugent and Evans hated each other and were deep personal rivals when it came to tour guiding tourists. The argument escalated until Evans blasted Jim in the head with his rifle shotgun. Evans then traveled to Fort Collins to file an assault charge against Nugent, but he was arrested and tried for first degree murder when Jim Nugent died on September 9, 1874, of the bullet wound. Evans was put on trial, but the case was soon dismissed due to the lack of witnesses to the shooting. On August 9, 1875, the Loveland court-house acquitted Evans of any charges in the case.

William Henry Jackson photographed Estes Park in 1873. Alex and Clara (Heeney) MacGregor arrived soon after and homesteaded at the foot of Lumpy Ridge. The MacGregor Ranch has been preserved as a historic site. In 1874, MacGregor incorporated a company to build a new toll road from Lyons, Colorado, to Estes Park. The road became what is today U.S. Highway 36. Before that time, however, the "road" was only a trail fit for pack horses. The improved road brought more visitors into Estes Park; some of them became full-time residents and built new hotels to accommodate the growing number of travelers.

In 1884, Enos Mills (1870-1922) left Kansas and came to Estes Park, where his relative Elkanah Lamb lived. That move proved significant for Estes Park because Mills became a naturalist and conservationist who devoted his life after 1909 to preserving nearly a thousand square miles of Colorado as Rocky Mountain National Park. He succeeded and the park was dedicated in 1915.

Enos Mills' younger brother Joe Mills (1880-1935) came to Estes Park in 1889. He wrote a series of articles about his youthful experiences for Boys Life which were later published as a book. After some years as a college athletics coach, he and his wife returned to Estes Park and built a hotel called The Crags on the north side of Prospect Mountain, overlooking the village. They ran that business in the summer while he continued his coaching career in winters at University of Colorado in Boulder.

Many early visitors came to Estes Park in search of better health. The Rocky Mountain West especially attracted those with pulmonary diseases, and in Estes Park some resorts catered to them, providing staff physicians for their care.

Recent history
In 1903, a new road was opened from Loveland through the Big Thompson River canyon to Estes Park, increasing access to the valley. In 1907, three Loveland men established the first auto stage line from Loveland to Estes Park with three five-passenger touring Stanley Steamers. The following year, Mr. Stanley built nine-passenger steam busses and opened a bus line between Lyons and Estes Park.

By 1912, Estes Park had its own seasonal newspaper, the Estes Park Trail, which provided advertising for the local hotels and other businesses. It was a year-round weekly by 1921. In 1949, Olympus Dam was finished, creating Lake Estes, giving the town its main source of drinking water.

Land was still being homesteaded in the area in 1914, when Katherine Garetson (1877-1963) filed on land near the base of Longs Peak. She built a cabin and started a business known as the Big Owl Tea Place. She proved up on her homestead claim in 1915, and left a memoir of her years there.

In 1916 the Estes Valley Library was founded by the Estes Park Women's Club. It originally formed part of the old schoolhouse and contained only 262 printed works.

Estes Park was also the site of the organization of the Credit Union National Association, an important milestone in the history of American credit unions. In 1992, members of the modern American militia movement attended the three-day Rocky Mountain Rendezvous in Estes Park, which focused on "guns, resisting the federal government, and white supremacy".

Flood of 1982
The town suffered severe damage in July 1982 from flooding caused by the failure of Lawn Lake Dam, "after years of disrepair and neglect." The flood's alluvial fan can still be seen on Fall River Road. The downtown area was extensively renovated after the flood, and a river walk was added between the main street, Elkhorn Avenue, and the Big Thompson River.

Flood of 2013
Both U.S. Highway 36 and U.S. Highway 34, the major routes into town, were severely damaged. Hundreds of Estes Park residents were also isolated by the destruction of sections of Fish Creek Road and all nine crossings across Fish Creek. Damaged sewer lines dumped raw sewage down the creek and into the Big Thompson River.

Geography
Estes Park sits at an elevation of 7522 ft on the front range of the Rocky Mountains at the eastern entrance of the Rocky Mountain National Park. Its north, south and east extremities border the Roosevelt National Forest. Lumpy Ridge lies immediately north of Estes Park.

At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 17.862 km2 including 0.194 km2 of water.

Historic ski areas
Estes Park was home to a number of now defunct ski areas: Estes Park vicinity was also the home of other resorts and tourist attractions.
 * Davis Hill
 * Hidden Valley
 * Leydman Hill Jump
 * Old Man Mountain

Climate
Estes Park has a humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb). Summers are typically warm, sometimes hot, while winters are usually cold, with lows dropping into the teens and sometimes the single digits.

Demographics
In August 1900, Estes Park had a population of 218 in 63 households. Many (73) were born in Colorado. Eighteen were born in other countries: Canada (4), England (4), Germany (4), Finland (3), and one each from the Netherlands, Scotland, and Ireland. Eighty had been born in midwestern states, and thirty from states in the northeast.

As of the census of 2010, 5,858 people, 2,796 households, and 1,565 families resided in the town of Estes Park. The population density was 929.5 PD/sqmi. There were 4,107 housing units at an average density of 570.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 91.0% White, 0.3% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 2% Pacific Islander, 5.5% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14% of the population.

There were 2,541 households, out of which 20.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.61.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 17.6% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $43,262, and the median income for a family was $55,667. Males had a median income of $31,573 versus $20,767 for females. The per capita income for the town was $30,499. About 3.2% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 0.8% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture
Estes Park's outskirts include The Stanley Hotel, built in 1909. An example of Edwardian opulence, the building had Stephen King as a guest, inspiring him to change the locale for his novel The Shining from an amusement park to the Stanley's fictional stand-in, the Overlook Hotel. Olympus Dam, on the outskirts of the town, is the dam that creates Lake Estes, a lake which is the site for boating and swimming in Estes Park. There are some hotels on the shore.

Roughly three to four million tourists visit Rocky Mountain National Park each year, with 2021 seeing 4.4 million tourist visits; most use Estes Park as their base. In the spring and fall, wapiti travel through the town on their migrations to and from the national park.

Transportation
Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the United States, runs from Estes Park westward through Rocky Mountain National Park, reaching Grand Lake over the continental divide.

Public transportation
The main airport serving Estes Park is Denver International Airport, located 75 miles southeast. Service between the airport and Estes Park is provided by local carriers.

The town of Estes Park operates Estes Transit, a free shuttle during the summer months.

Highways

 * [[Image:US 34.svg|25px]] US 34 is an east–west highway that runs from Granby, Colorado to Berwyn, Illinois. In Colorado, it connects Estes Park to Loveland, Interstate 25, Greeley and Interstate 76.
 * [[Image:US 36.svg|25px]] US 36 begins at the nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, running to Uhrichsville, Ohio, passing through Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. It connects Estes Park to Boulder, and Interstates 25 and 76, both near Denver.
 * [[Image:Colorado 7.svg|25px]] State Highway 7 begins at the junction of US 36 and N St. Vrain Avenue in Estes Park and runs to Boulder, Lafayette and Brighton. Its northwestern segment is part of the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway.

Notable people

 * Jacob M. Appel, author, wrote The Mask of Sanity while living in Estes Park
 * Tommy Caldwell, rock climber
 * Jim Detterline, climber, resident of the Estes Park–Allenspark area at the time of his death
 * Tom Hornbein, mountaineer & anesthesiologist. He was part of the U.S. expedition that climbed Mt. Everest in 1963. He and Willi Unsoeld were the first climbers to reach the summit via the West Ridge route, and the first to complete a traverse of a major Himalayan peak by descending by a different route than the one used to summit. In climbing circles, his climb is considered to be among the great feats in the history of mountaineering. He also designed the oxygen masks for the climb.
 * Wendy Koenig, is an American middle-distance runner. She competed in the 800 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics. She is currently the mayor of Estes Park.
 * Loren Shriver, astronaut, commander on STS mission that launched the Hubble Telescope
 * Freelan Oscar Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer and builder of the Stanley Hotel
 * William Ellery Sweet, 23rd Governor of Colorado, built a summer home in Estes Park in 1912, now used as a residence by his descendants
 * Anna Wolfrom, pioneer homesteader, first successful businesswoman in Estes Park, writer, and teacher

In popular culture

 * Estes Park was the setting for Nicholas Sansbury Smith's Trackers series of novels.
 * The Stanley Hotel inspired Stephen King to write the novel The Shining. He checked into the hotel in 1973 for a one-night stay with his wife Tabitha.
 * The lavish ‘Danbury Hotel', featured in the 1994 film "Dumb and Dumber" in which Harry and Lloyd stay, is the Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado.
 * Setting for the "Cozy Corgi Mysteries" series by Mildred Abbott.

Sister city
Estes Park's official sister city is Monteverde, Costa Rica.

title: Estes Park, Colorado


text:
Laporte, Colorado

Laporte (originally spelled La Porte and alternatively spelled LaPorte) is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Laporte post office has the ZIP Code 80535. At the United States Census 2020, the population of the Laporte CDP was 2,409.

History
The town was first settled by French-Canadian fur trappers and mountain men. It was the gateway to all the mountainous region lying north of the South Platte River and extending from the Plains to the Continental Divide. The trappers built cabins here along the Cache la Poudre River as early as 1828, making it the first settlement in Larimer County. According to legend, a group of fur traders had earlier stashed supplies (including gunpowder) in a cache along the river near Laporte, and that is how the river got its name. It became the home of Antoine Janis in 1844, who is often noted as the first permanent settler north of the Arkansas River. A band of mountaineers, hunters and trappers made LaPorte their headquarters for fur catching and trading operations. The settlement increased in numbers, including 150 lodges of Arapaho Indians who settled peacefully along the river and in the valley. The town was named by the fur trappers, many with Native American wives, who settled in the area in the mid-19th century. The name la porte means "the door" in French.

The winter of 1849 brought Kit Carson and his company of trappers to the Cache la Poudre, where they set up camp. In 1860 a town company was organized, originally called "Colona". Between fifty and sixty log dwellings were erected that year along the banks of the Cache la Poudre River in the valley, and in November 1861 the territorial legislature designated Laporte as the county seat. In 1862, the town of Colona changed its name to "LaPorte", and was named the headquarters of the Mountain Division of the Overland Trail Stage Route. The first post office opened, and a stage stop was built on the Overland Trail. A station was erected right along the river, very near where the present Overland Trail crosses the river. Mrs. Taylor, wife of the first stationmaster, was a "good cook" and "gracious hostess", and as described by one diarist, knows "what to do with beans and dried apples." The stage fare from Denver to LaPorte was $20.00. The first bridge over the Cache la Poudre River was built as a toll bridge, and during the rush to California, numerous wagons and stage coaches crossed it every day. The toll charged was anywhere from $.50 to $8.00, depending on what source of information is used. In 1864, the bridge was washed away by a flood, and a ferry was rigged up and used for several years until the county built another bridge.

LaPorte soon became a bustling business and supply center for emigrants, with wagon trains and stagecoaches constantly passing through. There were four saloons, a brewery, a butcher shop, two blacksmith shops, a general store and a hotel. The store was a thriving business, sometimes making as much as $1,000 per day. LaPorte was the most important settlement north of Denver, housing the stage station, the county court house, the military, Indians, and trappers. In 1862, Camp Collins was established by the U.S. Army along the river to protect the stage line from attack by Native Americans. Also that same year, the Laporte Townsite Company claimed 1280 acre of land for the town. In 1863 the 13th Kansas volunteer infantry was stationed to Laporte, acting as escort for the Overland Stage on the trail to Virginia Dale. During the flood of 1864, the army camp was covered with water, and the soldiers had to suddenly flee to higher ground. In August of that year, Col. Collins came down from Laramie, Wyoming, on an inspection tour, and decided to move the army camp to Fort Collins, downriver about 6 mi.

Geography
Laporte is located on the Cache la Poudre River northwest of Fort Collins, close to where the river emerges from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. U.S. Route 287 runs along the northern edge of the community, leading southeast 6 mi to Fort Collins and northwest 58 mi to Laramie, Wyoming.

The Laporte CDP has an area of 16.120 km2, including 0.279 km2 of water.

Demographics
The United States Census Bureau initially defined the Laporte CDP for the United States Census 2000.

Fiction
In L. Neil Smith's North American Confederacy series of novels, beginning with The Probability Broach, an alternate-history LaPorte is one of the major cities of North America, occupying roughly half the area of Larimer County, and with a population of over two million people, whereas the city of Denver does not exist; in its place are the two small historic settlements of Saint Charles Town and Auraria.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Laporte, Colorado


text:
Loveland, Colorado

Loveland is the home rule municipality that is the second most populous municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Loveland is situated 46 mi north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver and is the 14th most populous city in Colorado. As of the 2020 census the population of Loveland was 76,378. The city forms part of the Fort Collins-Loveland Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. The city's public schools are part of the Thompson R2-J School District.

History
Mariano Medina built the first settlement in the area, Fort Namaqua, in 1858. It was a trading post and stage station, and the site is now Namaqua Park. Prior to that time it was a hub for French fur trappers dating back to the late 1700s.

The city was officially founded in 1877 along the newly constructed line of the Colorado Central Railroad, near its crossing of the Big Thompson River. It was named in honor of William A.H. Loveland, the president of the Colorado Central Railroad. The city was founded one mile (1.6 km) upstream from the existing small settlement of St. Louis, the buildings of which were moved to the site of Loveland. For the first half of the 20th century, the town was dependent on agriculture. The primary crops in the area were sugar beets and sour cherries. In 1901 the Great Western Sugar Company built a factory in Loveland, which remained as a source of employment until its closure in 1977. During the late 1920s, the Spring Glade Orchard was the largest cherry orchard west of the Mississippi River. At that time the cherry orchards produced more than $1 million worth of cherries per year. A series of droughts, attacks of blight, competition from growers in other states (particularly Michigan ), and finally a killer freeze destroyed the industry. By the late 1960s, cherries were no longer farmed at scale, although orchards remained in southeast Loveland and nearby Masonville into the 1990s. In the late 20th century, the economy diversified with the arrival of manufacturing facilities by Hewlett-Packard, Teledyne, and Hach, a water quality analysis equipment manufacturer. A new medical center has added a substantial amount of employment in that sector.

2013 & 1976 floods
On September 12, 2013, a historic flood affected numerous areas in Colorado. It rained heavily for four consecutive days, causing most rivers and creeks to overfill their banks. Estes Park received 8 to 12 in of rain, causing Lake Estes to overfill its banks. This prompted a lot of water to be released out of the dam, causing the Big Thompson River to swell. The flooding river caused sections of U.S. Highway 34, the main highway from Loveland to Estes Park, to collapse. The Big Thompson caused major flooding in Loveland, and caused numerous road closures because of flood waters. The Loveland/Fort Collins area received about 4 in, which is relatively less significant compared to the amount of rain other places received. This flood is often compared to the Big Thompson Flood of 1976, both of which are considered to be about a 1 in 500 chance of occurring in a given year, also called a "500-year flood", by the USGS and Colorado Department of Natural Resources standards and data respectively. Two people died as a result of the 2013 flooding in Larimer county while 144 people were killed in the 1976 flood, with 5 bodies in the 1976 incident never found.

Geography
The city is located in the Colorado Front Range region at the base of the foothills just east of the mouth of Big Thompson River Canyon at the intersection of U.S. Highway 34 and U.S. Highway 287. Longs Peak and other mountains of the Front Range are visible from much of the city.

Loveland is in southeastern Larimer County. Located south of Fort Collins, its larger neighbor and the county seat of Larimer County, both cities have expanded steadily towards each other. They are considered a single metropolitan area by the U.S. government. The establishment of county-owned open space between the two communities in the 1990s was intended to create a permanent buffer. The northern city limits are now contiguous with those of Windsor, which has expanded westward from Weld County across Interstate 25.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.5 sqmi, of which 24.6 sqmi is land, and 0.9 sqmi (3.68%) is water.

Loveland Pass, also named after William A.H. Loveland, is not located near the town of Loveland.

Climate
Loveland has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification 'BSk'). Its climate is characterized by warm to hot summer and long and moderately cold winter (sometimes severely). Due to its annual precipitation of over 15 inches, Loveland's climate can sometimes be categorized as humid continental.

Loveland, Colorado has an annual snowfall of 47.0 in.

The hottest temperature recorded in Loveland was 106 °F on July 19, 2022, while the coldest temperature recorded was -31 °F on December 22, 1990.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 50,608 people, 19,741 households, and 14,035 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,059.7 PD/sqmi. There were 20,299 housing units at an average density of 826.2 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 92.85% White, 0.37% Black, 0.69% Native American, 0.83% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 3.21% from other races, and 2.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.57% of the population.

In 2020, the population of Loveland was 76,378, which is a 51% increase from the population in 2000 census. The racial makeup of the city has changed to 84% White, 9% two or more races, 4% from other races, 1.2% from Asian, and 0.9% Black. Of those, Hispanic or Latino of any race makes up 13% of the population, and Non-Hispanic Whites makes up 79.7% of Loveland's population.

There were 19,741 households, out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were non-families. 23.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.9% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $47,119, and the median income for a family was $54,337. Males had a median income of $38,971 versus $26,714 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,889. About 4.0% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
Because of its location along U.S. 34, at one of the principal access routes to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, Loveland receives a significant amount of pass-through tourist traffic, especially in the summer months. In addition, the city serves as a bedroom community to commuters in many directions: to employment locations in Boulder, Westminster and other parts of the Denver Metropolitan area; and also to the college towns of Fort Collins (CSU), Greeley (UNC), and Boulder, (CU).

Loveland has aggressively expanded its incorporated limits eastward to embrace the interchange of Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 34, and is currently developing the area. The intersection has become a primary commercial hub of northern Colorado, with the construction of shopping centers and the Blue Arena. A new medical center and mall have also been built at the I-25/US-34 interchange. This area is known as Centerra. The interchange is shared with its smaller neighbor Johnstown, of Weld County.

Valentine Re-Mailing Program
Loveland is the home of the Valentine Re-Mailing Program. For decades people from across the world have sent their valentines to Loveland, Colorado, to be hand-stamped with a cachet and verse, and a specially designed postal cancelation. A new verse and stamp are selected each year through a contest held by the Loveland Chamber of Commerce and residents can submit their poems and artwork to be judged. On average, this program re-mails more than 160,000 cards from the United States and more than 110 countries. Loveland's Valentine Re-mailing Program has inspired many other Valentine's Day programs including the Official Loveland Valentine, Miss Loveland Valentine and the Thompson Valley Rotary Heart's Program.

Loveland's Valentine Re-mailing Program began in January 1947 by Ted Thompson and Elmer Ivers, the Loveland postmaster after Ivers received about 30 valentines from individuals requesting to have the cards postmarked from Loveland for "a romantic extra touch." The two thought re-mailing valentines would be an opportunity to advertise Loveland, and the Loveland Chamber of Commerce agreed to promote the service. Thompson designed a cachet with the message, "A Valentine Greeting from Sweetheart Town, Loveland, Colorado," and the image was a heart pierced by an arrow over the Rocky Mountains. The cachet was used twice, then Thompson started the tradition of changing it each year at the request of collectors. Since then, a different verse and design have been used every year.

In addition to the mailing program, community members can pay to purchase a large valentine message on wooden hearts that are displayed on the streets across Loveland. Many of these public valentines are engagement proposals, anniversary messages, and annual traditions.

Arts and culture
There is a large population of artists in Loveland, which has drawn three foundries, an art museum, and the annual sculpture shows in August. The city is a major business center for northern Colorado.

Loveland has 475 pieces of art in its public arts collection. While the arts collection consists primarily of sculpture, the collection also includes murals and other flat work. Over 150 pieces of the city's sculpture can be found in Benson Sculpture Garden.

The Sculpture in the Park show, hosted by the Loveland High Plains Arts Council, takes place annually in August and exhibits artwork from artists from the United States and the world.

Parks and recreation
Lake Loveland, an early agricultural reservoir in the irrigation system of the region, is located in the city limits and provides a recreational facility for the city residents.

Government
Loveland is a home-rule, council-manager form of government. The city council is a nine-member policy-making board, led by the mayor, who is elected for a two-year term by the community at large.

The mayor has the same voting rights as all other council members and is responsible for presiding over council meetings. This position is recognized as the city government leader for all ceremonial purposes. The council elects, by majority vote, a mayor pro tem to serve the same term as the mayor. The mayor pro tem is expected to perform responsibilities of the mayor when the mayor is absent or unable to perform their duties.

Two council members are elected from each ward to serve four-year terms. There are four wards in the city. The council member representing the ward must have lived in the ward for 12 consecutive months immediately preceding the election.

Loveland is represented in Congress by Representative Ken Buck (Republican). On the state level, the city lies in the 15th district of the Colorado Senate, represented by Democrat Janice Marchman, and in the 51st district of the Colorado House of Representatives, represented by Republican Ron Weinberg.

Law enforcement
The Loveland Police Department has been involved in multiple controversies, including the arrest of Karen Garner, a 73-year-old woman with dementia, the shooting of and order of euthanasia on a 1-year-old puppy, and the arrest of and usage of excessive force on a good samaritan. Between 2011 and 2019, the department had the second highest rate of police shootings among cities in Colorado. The chief of police in Loveland is Tim Doran, who was sworn in on January 3, 2023.

Continuing education

 * Aims Community College
 * Colorado Christian University (Northern Colorado Center satellite site)

High schools

 * Harold Ferguson High School
 * Loveland High School
 * Mountain View High School
 * Thompson Valley High School

Transportation
The Fort Collins / Loveland Airport serves corporate and general aviation needs, but does not currently have commercial airline service. The closest commercial/commuter airport is Denver International Airport, 70 mi to the south, which is served by nearly twenty airlines. Loveland can be approached from Denver by car via Interstate 25. Hourly shared shuttle services to and from DIA are also offered by Green Ride Colorado and Red Lion to reach the Loveland and Fort Collins area.

U.S. Highway 34 runs east to west into the mountains through Loveland. It becomes Eisenhower Boulevard in the city, dividing it in half. Loveland's two main ZIP Codes (80538 and 80537) are separated by this highway. A Tesla Supercharger was built and operational in the city by the end of December 2016.

The city bus system in Loveland is called COLT—City of Loveland Transit.

Loveland is connected to Fort Collins, Berthoud, and Longmont via the FLEX regional bus route and to Denver via the Bustang interregional express bus.

Notable people

 * Wayne Allard, former U.S. Senator from Colorado
 * Jeremy Bloom, Olympic skier; former wide receiver and punt returner at the University of Colorado; drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2006
 * Molly Bloom, author and inspiration for Molly's Game
 * Jeff Byers, offensive guard for University of Southern California and the NFL's Carolina Panthers
 * Lindsey Daugherty, attorney and member of the Colorado House of Representatives
 * Alexi Grewal, Olympic gold medal winning cyclist
 * Meredith Hodges, equine trainer and author
 * Kyle Howard, actor
 * Collin Klein, former starting quarterback for Kansas State University and Heisman Trophy finalist
 * Jeff Lucas, writer/broadcaster
 * Don Marostica, Colorado Director of Economic Development
 * Marilyn Martinez, comic
 * Scot McCloughan, former general manager of the Washington Redskins
 * James Niehues, panoramic illustrator famous for his ski area trail maps
 * Emily Rosa, scientist and youngest person to publish in a peer reviewed medical journal
 * Sarah Milner Smith, first teacher in Loveland

title: Loveland, Colorado


text:
Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

Red Feather Lakes is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Red Feather Lakes post office has the ZIP Code 80545. At the United States Census 2020, the population of the Red Feather Lakes CDP was 426.

Located in the Rocky Mountains northwest of Fort Collins, Red Feather Lakes is a rustic mountain village surrounded by the Roosevelt National Forest. The village has three small general stores with gas pump, groceries, ATM and gift shop, a hardware store, an outdoor sports shop, a coffee shop, a community library, small antique store, and post office. Several rustic mountain restaurants are located in the community.

Gnome Road (aka "Elf Lane") is a mountain dirt road in the village. Hikers strolling and cars cruising the scenic road will find ceramic elves and gnomes as well as fairy doors and faces among the trees, boulders and bushes.

History
Other than Native Americans, only occasional hunters and trappers passed through the Red Feather Lakes area until the middle of the 19th century. The first known settler was John Hardin, who built a cabin about 2 mi from the current Red Feather Lakes village in 1871. Other settlers, many of them families of Hardin's eleven surviving children, homesteaded and built nearby. In these early years, the settlers were primarily ranchers, but another important activity was lumbering. The trails in the area, some of which eventually became roads, were built by tie hacks, who hauled their railroad ties down to what is now Tie Siding, Wyoming, where they were used in building the transcontinental railroad.

The first government survey, in 1879, showed only one lake in the region: what is now Creedmore Lake, several miles to the north of the present community. As the area developed, networks of toll roads, lakes and water ditches appeared. By the beginning of the twentieth century, water rights had become a major issue in the region, and who had ownership of the water in the various streams, man-made lakes, and diversions continued to spark legal battles until a Supreme Court decision in 1921 awarded a major portion of water being diverted from the Laramie River tributaries to competing claims in Wyoming.

In September 1886, gold was discovered a few miles south, and the town of Manhattan was platted at the site in 1887. Manhattan grew to a peak of 300 inhabitants in 1898, but substantial gold was never obtained, and it became a ghost town a few years later.

By 1895, the population was sufficient that a school district was established and a schoolhouse constructed. Timbering and sawmills grew in importance in the area, and in 1902, a National Forest Reserve (later to become part of Roosevelt National Forest) was established, principally to exercise some control over the helter-skelter timbering.

Recreation was not of much importance in the early years and first appeared when the Fort Collins YMCA built a camp in 1919. Interest in the area as a summer retreat for urban dwellers in Fort Collins and other Front Range communities grew rapidly, and in 1923, the name "Red Feather" made its first appearance when the Red Feather Mountain Lakes Association was formed with the objective of developing recreational homes (cabins) on 4320 acre. The name was stimulated by Princess Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone, a Native American girl who was touring in concert with the composer Charles Wakefield Cadman. Purportedly, the namesake was Princess Redfeather's grandfather, Chief Redfeather, whose grave was supposed to be in the area.

The Red Feather Mountain Lakes Association (whose assets were acquired by the Red Feather Investment Co. five years later) had grand plans. The planning map included a golf course, tennis courts, rodeo grounds, a ranch school, a rifle range, and many other recreational facilities. Of these, only a nine-hole golf course materialized. Several hotels were planned; one was built in 1924. A silver fox farm was also part of the plan, and this was begun early in the development with twenty pairs of foxes bought in New York. Though it did not succeed at the scale the developers envisioned, this development was responsible for the growth of Red Feather Lakes as a fishing and summer recreational area. In 1925, the investors claimed the sale of 1,900 lots and orders for 100 cabins. Most of these lots were one-eighth acre in size, which sufficed for a cabin and the requisite outhouse. Growth was slow and was impeded by the Great Depression and by World War II. Many of the original lots survive today, and original cabins can be found if one looks carefully behind and beneath various modern additions.

In 1933, President Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Several CCC camps operated in the region, including one on the site of the Manhattan ghost town and, starting in 1935, one not far from the village. Young men working in the camps improved roads, cleared forests, engaged in firefighting, and constructed the original fire tower at the top of Deadman Mountain. During World War II, as the CCC was phased out, the camp near the village was sold as salvage, and another became a POW camp.

The silver fox farm continued into the 1950s, by which time furs were in little demand. The property was sold around 1960 and is now a part of the Fox Acres Community (Golf Club and residences). The original fox farm caretaker's house, with its second-story cupola that overlooked the fox pens, is still in use on the property.

The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) brought electricity to the Red Feather Lakes area in 1952. In the ensuing years, new buildings gradually changed the face of the village, including a fire station and library.

Detailed historical information is gathered and maintained by the Red Feather Historical Society. The group maintains a website and operates a museum in a historical cabin in the village.

Geography
Red Feather Lakes is located in north-central Larimer County. Via Red Feather Lakes Road, it is 24 mi west of U.S. Route 287 at Livermore and 45 mi northwest of Fort Collins, the county seat.

There are at least 12 named lakes in the community, including Parvin Lake, Dowdy Lake, West Lake, Snake Lake, Letitia Lake, Red Feather Lake, Lake Ramona, Hiawatha Lake, Apache Lake, Shagwa Lake, Lake Nokomis, and Lake Erie. All of the lakes in the CDP eventually drain to Lone Pine Creek, an east-flowing tributary of the Cache la Poudre River, part of the South Platte River watershed.

The Red Feather Lakes CDP has an area of 24.988 km2, including 1.378 km2 of water.

Demographics
The United States Census Bureau initially defined the Red Feather Lakes CDP for the United States Census 2000.

title: Red Feather Lakes, Colorado


text:
Timnath, Colorado

The Town of Timnath is a Statutory Town located in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1882, Timnath is a small agricultural/farming community located southeast of Fort Collins, Colorado, approximately one-half mile east of the Harmony Road/Interstate 25 interchange, on a small bluff east of the Cache la Poudre River. The surrounding farmlands have been used primarily for potatoes, alfalfa, sugar beets, and cattle. Although the town has remained virtually unchanged in recent decades, the encroaching growth of both Fort Collins to the west and Windsor to the south have placed the town in an area considered favorable to development. The population was 6,487 at the 2020 census. Timnath has been one of the fastest-growing communities in Colorado since 2020, and in 2022 had an estimated population of 9,344.

Description
Other structures lining Main Street (a section of County Road 5) include elementary school (in the Poudre School District), a one-story modern post-office, and several other historic buildings. Most residences are single-family homes. There is another elementary school (Bethke Elementary) 2.8 miles away from the one lining Main Street.

History
The area was first homesteaded by settlers in 1869. The first schoolhouse was constructed that year, approximately one-half mile west of the current town, and was named "Fairview". By 1880, the community had outgrown the schoolhouse, and new "Fairview" school was built just north of the current town. The school also served as an early meeting place for the Presbyterian Church. The turning point in the early history of the community was in 1882, with the arrival of the Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific Railroad (controlled by the Union Pacific) linking Greeley and Fort Collins. The following year, the Presbyterian Church, petitioned by local residents, sent a missionary to found a congregation. The current structure along Main Street dates from that year.

A post office was established in 1884, headed by Reverend Charles A. Taylor, the local Presbyterian minister. When the post office was formed, Taylor bestowed the current name of the town from the 14th chapter of the Book of Judges, as the place where Samson went to obtain a Philistine wife. In 1900 the second school became outdated and a new one was built, dropping the name "Fairview" permanently. This structure currently stands as an out-building to the current elementary school. A larger school was built in 1918 (which burned in 1935 and was rebuilt the following year). The school district was consolidated with that of Fort Collins in 1960.

During World War II, the Empire of Japan launched Fu-Go balloon bombs that floated across the Pacific to the U.S. One of these bombs dropped and exploded in a field in Timnath.

Geography
Timnath is located at 40° 31' 44.94" N, 104° 59' 6.91" W (40.5291491, -104.9852533).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.345 sqmi, of which 7.308 sqmi is land and 0.037 sqmi is water.

The historical downtown lies along County Road Five, which runs north–south parallel to Interstate 25 half a mile to the east. Since the 2000 census, the town of Timnath has annexed several square miles of land to the east and southeast; the town has experienced significant commercial development along the east–west corridor of County Road 38 (Harmony Road). The majority of the six mile (north-south) by three mile (east-west) block of land that lies within Timnath's growth management area is low-density residential or agricultural, and is designated to remain so, with open space and parkland filling the remainder of the area, particularly near the Poudre River and Timnath Reservoir.

Government
Timnath is a Home Rule Town, governed by a Town Council, which consists of five elected officials - one Mayor and four Council Members, all positions are elected "at large," meaning that candidates come from all areas of the town. Elected officials serve 4 year terms.

Council meetings are open, public meetings where the Council makes town decisions and creates local laws and policies. The Council holds regular meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held at the Town Administration Building at 4800 Goodman Street.

The Town Council appoints the Town Manager who is responsible for the administration and daily operations of the Town.

Police services are provided by the Timnath Police Department and the Larimer County Sheriff's Department. Fire protection is provided by Poudre Fire Authority.

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 6,487 people, 2,002 households, and 1,814 families residing in the town. The population density was 988.1 PD/sqmi. There were 2,213 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 83.8% White, 0.6% African American, 0.3% Native American, 4.7% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 1.6% from some other races and 9.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.3% of the population. 33.2% of residents were under the age of 18, 6.8% were under 5 years of age, and 14.5% were 65 and older.

2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 625 people, 214 households, and 179 families residing in the town. The population density was 129.4 PD/sqmi. There were 243 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 94.4% White, 0.6% African American, 0.0% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. 6.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 214 households, out of which 46.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.0% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 16.4% were non-families. 14.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 32.3% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.4 males.

In the 2009-2013 American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the town was $113,144, and the median income for a family was $114,318. The per capita income for the town was $40,889. 1.5% of the population and 1.1% of families were below the poverty line. 1.0% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Timnath has experienced significant population growth in recent years and was the fastest growing town in Colorado in 2022 (19.2%) and the fastest growing town in Colorado since the start of the decade (44.0%).

Notable people

 * Jean Bethke Elshtain, political philosopher

title: Timnath, Colorado


text:
Wellington, Colorado

Wellington is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The population was 11,047 at the 2020 census. Wellington is situated in the northern part of Colorado, and it is part of the Fort Collins-Loveland Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography
Wellington is located at 40.70222°N, -105.00556°W (40.702324, -105.005497).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 sqmi, all of it land.

Wellington is I-25's northernmost Colorado town.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,672 people, 932 households, and 693 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,509.7 PD/sqmi. There were 963 housing units at an average density of 544.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 87.39% White, 0.26% African American, 1.05% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 8.23% from other races, and 2.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.13% of the population.

There were 932 households, out of which 46.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.1% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 32.7% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 38.2% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 5.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $47,917, and the median income for a family was $48,214. Males had a median income of $34,107 versus $25,991 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,783. About 5.1% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2013, 6,725 people live in Wellington.

Law and government
Wellington is a statutory town regulated by the state statutes listed in the Colorado Revised Statutes. The board of trustees may approve ordinances that pertain to local issues.

The legislative authority of the town shall be vested in a board of trustees, consisting of 1 mayor and 6 trustees. The members of the board of trustees are elected for 4-year terms and are elected at large. The mayor is elected separately.

History
Founded in 1902, incorporated in 1905, and named for C. L. Wellington (an employee of the Colorado and Southern Railroad). U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White lived in Wellington as a child. He made a point of returning to Wellington on an annual basis for his high school reunions up until 1999 when his physical health worsened significantly.

In the early 20th century, especially during the years of prohibition, Wellington doubled as a place to drink and a service town for drivers commuting from Cheyenne to Fort Collins and vice versa. The town, more or less, sustained a population of 500 throughout the century which proceeded to build homes, restaurants, churches, and various other elements of small-town life.

In 2000, woolly mammoth remains were discovered by a construction crew while digging home foundations. Colorado State University sent a team to carefully excavate and preserve the bones of the extinct animals; Wellington residents watched attentively. Unfortunately, upon hoisting the remains out of the excavation site the tusks crumbled inside of the protective forms that were previously built around them. Rear molars and parts of the skull of the mammoth are housed at CSU after being donated by the Burrus family (the developers of the project), who also kept molars of the animal. The subdivision where the bones were found named one of its streets in remembrance of the excitement.

Though population remained steady throughout the 20th century, Wellington experienced moderate growth in the 1990s and 2000s, rendering it a sort of bedroom community for the city of Fort Collins, which lies 10 miles to the south.

Education
Wellington is home to three schools: Rice Elementary, Eyestone Elementary and Wellington Middle-High School, all part of Poudre School District. The former Wellington Middle School was honored with many national and state awards including:
 * National "School to Watch", 2012–2015
 * United States Department of Education National Green Ribbon School
 * A.V.I.D International Demonstration School, 2013–2016
 * Colorado Environmental Leadership Bronze Medal Award Winner, 2012
 * National Yearbook Program of the Year, 2012, 2013

title: Wellington, Colorado


text:
Windsor, Colorado

Windsor is a home rule municipality in Larimer and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town was 32,716. Windsor is located in the Northern Colorado region.

History
In 1873, a settler named J.L. Hilton built a small house situated half-way between Greeley and Fort Collins. The “half-way” house, as it became known, directed travelers along a route, which was soon adopted by the Greeley, Salt Lake and Pacific railway. The railroad brought investors and farmers to Windsor in increasing numbers. Windsor's rich alluvial plains lent themselves to extensive wheat production and the establishment of one of the town's first commercial enterprises, a flour mill, which through a subsequent fire in 1899, was rebuilt and became the Windsor Milling and Elevator Company.

A rich wheat farming district, the area around Windsor first drew permanent residents in the early 1870s. Two factors were to play a critical role in stimulating Windsor's early development: irrigation and the railroad. Irrigation increased crop variety and production and the railroad shipped this bounty to market. The town was platted in 1882, the same year the Windsor Railroad Depot was built, and incorporated in 1890. It was named for the Rev. Samuel Asa Windsor. By 1900, tariffs on foreign sugar had created a market for new sources of sugar. Research in the improved cultivation of sugar beets was taking place at Colorado Agricultural College in Fort Collins, and the capital to advance production and manufacture of beet sugar was coming together. In 1903 a factory for producing sugar from sugar beets was built in Windsor. Sugar beet cultivation required large numbers of "stoop laborers," a need that was met by ethnic German immigrants from Russia. With large families and a strong work ethic, the German-Russians who settled in Windsor and other sugar beet areas would achieve financial success within one generation and own the highest producing beet farms. The Great Western Sugar Company fueled Windsor's economy through the mid-1960s, when the Windsor factory closed. Plentiful water and land drew Kodak to Windsor where it opened a manufacturing plant on the heels of the sugar factory's closing.

Kodak's opening spurred economic development in the town, and a population surge as the sugar beet factory closed. Later in the 1980s Metal Container Corporation (MCC) opened a can factory and Deline Box Company opened a factory, which closed in December 2010, that primarily served the Budweiser facility in Fort Collins, Colorado.

In the last two decades, its central location among the population centers of northern Colorado, together with its proximity to Interstate 25, have made it the site of rapid urban growth, particularly on the western edge of town, as it grows towards the interchange on I-25. In the 1990s, the town limits were westward into Larimer County. The incorporated town limits west of Interstate 25 are now contiguous with Loveland, and are separated from southeast Fort Collins by the Fossil Creek Open Space public lands of Larimer County acquired through a county-wide vote-approved sales tax.

In this century, there has been significant industrial development on the southeast side of town. Vestas has a wind turbine factory, and several related companies, Hexcel and Ice Energy have headquarters in Windsor. Owens Illinois has a glass factory that primarily serves the Budweiser facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. Windsor has also attracted digital services providers in recent years, such as farm management software provider Agworld whose North American headquarters is based here.

2008 tornado
On May 22, 2008, at approximately 11:50 a.m., a tornado devastated the town and many areas of Weld County and Larimer County, killing one camper in his RV, and injuring 14 other people in its wake. The National Weather Service tornado damage assessments conducted on Friday May 23 and Saturday May 24 documented large areas of damage. On the Enhanced Fujita scale there were pockets of EF3 damage especially near the Missile Silo Park Campground west of Greeley and to homes and businesses in eastern Windsor. Wind estimates in the heavily damaged areas were as high as 130 to 150 mph. While the time of year and location of the tornado were not unusual, the west to northwest path of the tornado was highly unusual, and the tornado occurred earlier in the day than is typical for the area. The storm was preceded by golf-ball to baseball sized hail and heavy rain, with hail damaging a much larger area than the actual tornado.

In addition to the damages to homes, the tornado damaged many businesses and government buildings. The winds knocked over 15 railroad cars, vehicles, and semi trucks. The tornado hit the Windmill Daycare Center; the staff and children all survived, suffering only minor cuts and bruises. The tornado caused extensive damage to the Windsor Milling and Elevator Co. Building, a building on the National Register of Historic Places. It would take nearly 10 years for the damage to be repaired. The tornado devastated many of the town's park and recreation facilities, including the cemetery, ball fields, swimming pool, the town's main park, and a new arts and heritage center.

The Red Cross housed several hundred individuals and arranged for housing of livestock in the immediate aftermath of the tornado. Governor Bill Ritter visited the Windsor area and declared a local state of emergency. The Colorado National Guard was dispatched to assist and protect the town. On May 26, 2008, President George W. Bush designated the area as a Federal disaster area.

The tornado caused $193.5 million in damage from about 24,000 auto and homeowner claims. The U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) approved more than $3 million in disaster loans to individuals and businesses in Weld County who suffered damage from the storm.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.6 sqmi, of which 24.33 sqmi is land and 1.27 sqmi  is water.

The Cache la Poudre River runs through the western and southern sides of town.

The main business district of town is east-west, along State Highway 392, which also serves as Windsor's Main Street. The BNSF line runs north of Main Street. The historic early grid of the town extends for roughly six blocks north and south of Main, and less than 10 blocks east and west, with a vibrant square green, called Main Park southeast of downtown. The park is surrounded by residences, and by the Town Hall (formerly Park School), at the north end.

Commercial development extends to the Water Valley development, along State Highway 257, near the intersection with Windsor Lake, a small reservoir in the irrigation system of Weld County, is one block north of the BNSF tracks. The lake is a popular spot for fishing. In the last decade, a 2.25 mile bike path was completed which circumscribes the lake. In addition to this reservoir, there are a number of other lakes and reservoirs that are former gravel mines along the Cache la Poudre river. These lakes have spurred housing developments and a golf course along their banks.

The Poudre Trail bicycle and pedestrian trail along the north bank of the Poudre includes a segment within the town of Windsor that connects the town with the City of Greeley.

Climate
Windsor experiences a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). High temperatures are generally around 85 °F (29 °C) in the summer and 42 °F (5 °C) in the winter, although there is significant variation. The hottest days generally occur in late July and the coldest in January. Nighttime lows are near 57 °F (14 °C) in the summer and around 15 °F (-9 °C) in the winter. Record high temperatures of 103 °F (39 °C) have been recorded, as have record low temperatures of -41 °F (-40 °C). The first freeze typically occurs around September 17, and the last often occurs in mid-May. The most precipitation typically occurs in May.

Extratropical cyclones which disrupt the weather for the eastern two-thirds of the US often originate in or near Colorado, which means Windsor does not experience many fully developed storm systems. Thunderstorms are frequent during summer afternoons. Windsor typically experience between 6 and 12 hail days per year and one of the highest concentrations of tornadic activity anywhere. The area where Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming meet receives the most hail of any location in the United States.

Some days in the winter and spring can be warm and extremely dry, with Chinook winds often raising temperatures to near 70 °F (21 °C) in January and February, and sometimes to near 90 °F (32 °C) in April. Windsor's elevation and low year-round humidity means that nighttime low temperatures are practically never above 68 °F (20 °C), even in the very hottest part of the summer. The diurnal temperature range is usually rather wide, with a 50-degree (Fahrenheit) difference between daytime high and nighttime low not uncommon, especially in the spring and fall months. Rapid fluctuation in temperature is also common – a sunny 80 °F (27 °C) October afternoon can easily give way to a 28 °F (-2 °C) blizzard within 12 hours.

Demographics
Historically, many of the town's inhabitants were of Germans-from-Russia origin. Beginning in the early 1970s, as the population grew with industrialization, the ethnic makeup diversified. However, the town is still 89.8% white. The town's German-Russian heritage is still evident in the town's churches, festivals and traditions.

Arts and culture
The town hosts a Summer Concert Series at the lakeside Boardwalk Park, accompanied by food vendors and a beer garden serving locally brewed beer.

A Harvest Festival takes place on the Labor Day weekend, and includes a parade, carnival, concerts, a hot air balloon festival, and home and garden fair.

Museums
The Windsor Art and Heritage Center hosts a variety of art shows throughout the year, and provides opportunities for the community to participate in art and cultural programs for all ages.

The Boardwalk Park Museum contains seven original historical buildings, including a train depot with caboose and freight car, schoolhouse and teacher's quarters, farmhouse with summer kitchen, and a beet shanty and prayer meeting house.

The Windsor Community Playhouse, founded in 1981, produces theatrical productions.

The Windsor Severance Fire Rescue Museum houses displays of the history of Windsor Fire Department, established in 1902. The fire department was dissolved as a division of the Town of Windsor and re-organized in 1950 as the Windsor Severance Fire Protection District (now Windsor Severance Fire Rescue).

Sports
The Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC is an American professional soccer team which made its debut in 2022. The team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid, and is owned by the Katofsky family and the Future Legends ownership group.

The Northern Colorado Owlz baseball team of the Pioneer League relocated to Windsor and will begin their first season at Future Legends Complex in 2022.

The Colorado Eagles hockey team of the American Hockey League is located in Windsor and is owned by Martin Lind.

Parks and recreation

The town has 25 developed and undeveloped parks, totaling over 200 acre.

Main Park features pickleball courts, basketball courts, sand volleyball courts, a playground and several picnic shelters.

Boardwalk Park is adjacent to Windsor Lake, and features a barrier-free wheelchair-accessible playground, picnic shelters, swim beach, boating, fishing, and a 2.25 mi trail.

Chimney Park features athletic fields, baseball diamonds and an outdoor swimming pool, and includes property that was part of the Great Western Sugar factory.

Eastman Park, adjacent to the Cache la Poudre River, features a skate park, picnic shelters, athletic fields, trails, playground, and off-leash dog park. Diamond Valley features baseball and softball diamonds.

The Windsor Community Recreation Center offers classes, events, athletic leagues, senior recreation, and adaptive recreation.

Education
The Weld RE-4 School District operates the following public schools in Windsor:

 * American Legacy Academy Charter
 * Grandview Elementary
 * Hollister Lake Elementary
 * Mountain View Elementary
 * Orchard Hill Elementary
 * Skyview Elementary
 * Tozer Primary School
 * Windsor Charter Elementary
 * Windsor Charter Middle & High
 * Windsor High School
 * Windsor Middle School

Media
The Windsor Ledger newspaper began publishing in 1898. It became the Poudre Valley in 1902, and the Windsor Beacon in 1946.

Windsor is home to TownSquare Media offices, as well as KUAD-FM 99.1 is a country music station.

Notable people

 * Ralph Backstrom, former NHL player and founder, Colorado Eagles
 * Thomas Casten, environmentalist, activist, author, American Businessman, born in Windsor
 * Benjamin Harrison Eaton, Governor of Colorado
 * Jean Bethke Elshtain, political philosopher, born in Windsor
 * Kendrick Frazier, science writer and editor, born in Windsor
 * Greg Myers, former National Football League player
 * Sophia Smith, soccer player for the NWSL and the United States national team
 * Jaelin Howell, soccer player for the NWSL
 * Dan Meis, world renowned sports architect, born in Windsor

title: Windsor, Colorado


text:
Aguilar, Colorado

Aguilar is a Statutory Town located in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 456 at the 2020 United States Census. Cattleman and prominent pioneer José Ramón Aguilar founded the town in 1894.

History
The town was named for state legislator J. Ramon Aguilar. Aguilar owned the land that the town was built on. A post office was established at Aguilar in 1890. In 1894 the town was incorporated.

From September 1913 until late April 1914, much of Las Animas County was embroiled by the Colorado Coalfield War, which saw up to 12,000 pro-United Mine Workers of America strikers engaged in both peaceful and violent confrontations with the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, other mining outfits, strikebreakers, and the Colorado National Guard. On October 29, 1913, the Aguilar post office and several other town structures were destroyed in an arson attack related to the strike. The National Guard arrested several strikers over the attack and handed them over to the federal U.S. Marshal Service.

Following the Ludlow Massacre on April 20, 1914, strikers launched numerous attacks of both coordinated and spontaneous natures against mining operations, strikebreakers, and the National Guard in what is known as the Ten-Day War. One of the attacks was launched against Southwestern Mine Co.'s Empire Mine on April 22, where armed strikers forced non-striking miners and their families into the mine and began an all-night siege outside. After negotiation led by Aguilar's mayor and a church minister named McDonald, the strikers abandoned the siege before fatalities on either side were reported.

Geography
Aguilar is located at 37.40333°N, -104.65444°W (37.403299, -104.654363), about one mile west of Interstate 25.

At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 1.016 km2, all of it land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 593 people, 243 households, and 165 families residing in the town. The population density was 1508.8 PD/sqmi. There were 291 housing units at an average density of 740.4 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 86.00% White, 3.04% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 6.91% from other races, and 3.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 46.54% of the population.

There were 243 households, out of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.1% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 21.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $23,750, and the median income for a family was $30,815. Males had a median income of $22,500 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,249. About 27.8% of families and 34.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 64.0% of those under age 18 and 25.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education
Aguilar Public Schools is part of the Aguilar Reorganized School District RE-6. The school district has one elementary school and one junior/senior high school.

Aguilar Elementary School and Aguilar Junior/Senior High School are located in Aguilar.

Transportation
Aguilar is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Trinidad-Pueblo Outrider line.

title: Aguilar, Colorado


text:
Branson, Colorado

Branson is a Statutory Town located in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 57 at the 2020 United States Census. Branson is the southernmost town in the State of Colorado, located just 0.3 mi from the New Mexico border.

Branson is located approximately 35 miles east of Trinidad, Colorado, on State Highway 389, in the Great Plains, as well in the Black Mesa area, the town is surrounded by mesa. It is a ranching community today. Farming in the area was severely impacted by the Dust Bowl.

History
The town was first known as Wilson, or Wilson Switch; then as Coloflats. A post office was established in 1915, and its name was changed to Branson in 1918. The town is named after Josiah F. Branson who platted the town on his land. The town was incorporated in 1921. Branson is located north of a break in the mesas which separate Southeast Colorado from Northeast New Mexico, the route of a minor branch of the Santa Fe Trail. It was founded near a switch, Wilson Switch, of the Denver, Texas, and Fort Worth Railroad, later merged into the Colorado and Southern Railway, a predecessor of today's Burlington Northern Santa Fe. A depot was built in 1918. Despite being unsuitable for farming, many homesteaders attempted dryland farming in the early 20th century. In good years there were bountiful harvests of grain and in the 1920s the town boasted 1000 people and 3 grain elevators as well as facilities such as a bank and a newspaper. After the drought and Dust Bowl of the 1930s population decreased rapidly as the economy turned from farming to ranching.

Geography
At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 0.634 km2, all of it land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 77 people, 37 households, and 24 families residing in the town. The population density was 309.6 PD/sqmi. There were 43 housing units at an average density of 172.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 97.40% White, 1.30% Native American, and 1.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.48% of the population.

There were 37 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were married couples living together, 16.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.63.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 1.3% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 71.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 62.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,583, and the median income for a family was $23,214. Males had a median income of $19,167 versus $20,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,933. There were 26.9% of families and 25.0% of the population living below the poverty line, including 33.3% of under eighteens and none of those over 64.

title: Branson, Colorado


text:
Cokedale, Colorado

Cokedale is a Statutory Town located in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 127 at the 2020 United States Census.

History
Cokedale is a former coal mining town. The mine shut down in 1947. The town was 5 miles away from the epicenter of a 5.3 earthquake on August 23, 2011.

Much of the town is included in the Cokedale Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography
At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 0.531 km2, all of it land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 139 people, 62 households, and 40 families residing in the town. The population density was 685.0 PD/sqmi. There were 86 housing units at an average density of 423.8 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 89.21% White, 0.72% Native American, 7.19% from other races, and 2.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 43.17% of the population.

There were 62 households, out of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.9% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.0% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 22.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.1 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $23,958, and the median income for a family was $40,179. Males had a median income of $20,000 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,503. There were 7.3% of families and 6.9% of the population living below the poverty line, including 7.0% of under eighteens and 5.1% of those over 64.

title: Cokedale, Colorado


text:
Kim, Colorado

Kim is a Statutory Town in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 63 at the time of the 2020 United States Census.

History
A post office called Kim has been in operation since 1917. The town was named after the novel Kim by Rudyard Kipling. Why? And by who?

, the town included a complete school system (grades K-12), a post office, and a general store.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.3 sqmi, all of it land.

Kim is located on the plains of southeastern Colorado and the elevation is 5690 ft (1734 m).

Climate
Kim experiences a semi-arid climate with hot summers and cold winters. Due to its high elevation and aridity, temperatures drop sharply after sunset. While daytime summer temperatures often exceed 90 degrees, nights are cool. Spring and Fall are mild. During the winter, temperatures can drop below zero at night, but are usually above freezing during the day. Kim receives most of its precipitation in the spring and late summer. Snow falls several times each winter, but rarely exceeds a few inches. Most snow melts within a few days, even in December or January.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 65 people, 38 households, and 15 families residing in the town. The population density was 211.3 PD/sqmi. There were 49 housing units at an average density of 159.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 98.46% White, and 1.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.38% of the population.

There were 38 households, out of which 15.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were married couples living together, 2.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.5% were non-families. 60.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.71 and the average family size was 2.80.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 16.9% under the age of 18, 3.1% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 30.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 124.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $25,938, and the median income for a family was $36,667. Males had a median income of $22,500 versus $27,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,343. There were 11.1% of the families and 14.5% of the population living below the poverty line, including none under eighteen and 20.0% of those over 64.

title: Kim, Colorado


text:
Starkville, Colorado

Starkville is a statutory town in Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 62 at the 2020 census.

History
The town was named for Albert G. Stark, a coal mine owner.

The community was formerly a company-owned coal-mining town owned and operated by the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. On October 8, 1910, an explosion at the Starkville mine killed 56 miners. Exactly a month later, an explosion at the nearby Victor-American Fuel Company mine in Delagua killed 76. Miners from Starkville aided in the recovery efforts.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.1 sqmi, all of it land. Starkville is 4 mile south of Trinidad and 8 mile from the border with New Mexico at Raton Pass. In the 19th century the Santa Fe Trail passed through the community. Starkville is adjacent to Interstate 25 and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.

2010 census
At the 2010 census, there were 59 people, 26 households, and 30 families living in the town. There were 35 housing units. The racial makeup of the town was 55.9% White, 1.7% Native American, 37.3% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 72.9% of the population.

Of the 26 households 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 30.8% of households were one person and 11.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.76.

The age distribution was 22.1% under the age of 19, 6.8% from 20 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 35.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% 65 or older. The median age was 44.5 years.

The median household income was $46,250 and the median family income was $51,250.

2000 census
At the 2000 census there were 128 people, 42 households, and 30 families living in the town. The population density was 1,245.1 PD/sqmi. There were 53 housing units at an average density of 515.6 /mi2. The racial makeup of the town was 71.88% White, 3.91% Native American, 14.84% from other races, and 9.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 64.06%.

Of the 42 households 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.9% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 21.4% of households were one person and 11.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.05 and the average family size was 3.55.

The age distribution was 27.3% under the age of 18, 10.2% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 25.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.7 males.

The median household income was $42,708 and the median family income was $50,000. Males had a median income of $30,417 versus $19,844 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,297. There were 5.3% of families and 10.1% of the population living below the poverty line, including 18.2% of under eighteens and 22.2% of those over 64.

title: Starkville, Colorado


text:
Trinidad, Colorado

Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies 21 mi north of Raton, New Mexico, and 195 mi south of Denver. It is on the historic Santa Fe Trail.

The city is home to Trinidad State College, the oldest community college in Colorado.

Early
Trinidad was first explored by Spanish and Mexican traders, who liked its proximity to the Santa Fe Trail. It was founded in 1862 soon after coal was discovered in the region. This led to an influx of immigrants eager to capitalize on this natural resource. By the late 1860s, the town had about 1,200 residents. Trinidad was officially incorporated in 1876, just a few months before Colorado became a state. In 1878 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reached Trinidad, making it easier for goods to be shipped from distant locations. In the 1880s Trinidad became home to a number of well-known people, including Bat Masterson, who briefly served as the town's marshal in 1882. By 1900 Trinidad's population had grown to 7,500 and it had two English-language newspapers and one in Spanish. In 1885, Holy Trinity Catholic Church was constructed.

In the early 1900s Trinidad became nationally known for having the first woman sports editor of a newspaper, Ina Eloise Young. Her expertise was in baseball, and in 1908 she was the only woman sportswriter to cover the World Series. During the same time, Trinidad was home to a popular semiprofessional baseball team that was briefly coached by Damon Runyon. On August 7, 1902, the Bowen Town coal mine, six miles north of Trinidad, experienced a horrific gas explosion, killing 13 miners. It was one of the worst mining disasters so far in the state; conditions in the mine provided the impetus for several labor strikes. At one point in late 1903, an estimated 3,000 miners, members of the United Mine Workers of America, went on strike. In 1904 Trinidad experienced several disasters. In mid-January a fire destroyed two blocks of the town's business section, causing more than $75,000 in damages. In late September, the Trinidad area and the region along the Purgatoire River endured an unusually heavy rainstorm, leading to severe flooding; the flood destroyed the Santa Fe railroad station, wiped out every bridge in town, and caused several hundred thousand dollars' worth of property damage. As Trinidad continued to grow, a number of new construction projects began in the downtown area, including a new library, a new city hall, an opera house, and a new hotel.

1913–1914 strike
Trinidad became the a focal point of the 1913-1914 United Mine Workers of America strike against the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron company, which has come to be known as the Colorado Coalfield War. The Colorado and Southern Railway stop that connected Trinidad with Denver and Walsenburg made the town strategically important for both the strikers and Colorado National Guard. On April 20, 1914, just 18 miles north of town, the events of the Ludlow Massacre occurred.

Recent
Trinidad was dubbed the "Sex Change Capital of the World", because a local doctor had an international reputation for performing sex reassignment surgery. In the 1960s, Stanley Biber, a veteran surgeon returning from Korea, decided to move to Trinidad because he had heard that the town needed a surgeon. In 1969 a local social worker asked him to perform the surgery for her, which he learned by consulting diagrams and a New York surgeon. Biber attained a reputation as a good surgeon at a time when very few doctors were performing sex-change operations. At his peak he averaged four sex-change operations a day, and the term "taking a trip to Trinidad" became a euphemism for some seeking the procedures he offered. Biber was featured in an episode of South Park, in which elementary school teacher Mr. Garrison undergoes a sex-change operation. Biber's surgical practice was taken over in 2003 by Marci Bowers. Bowers has since moved the practice to Burlingame, California. The 2008 documentary Trinidad focuses on Bowers and two of her patients.

Drop City, a counterculture artists' community, was formed in 1965 on land about 4 mi north of Trinidad. Founded by art students and filmmakers from the University of Kansas and University of Colorado at Boulder, Drop City became known as the first rural "hippie commune", and received attention from Life and Time magazines, as well as from reporters around the world. Drop City was abandoned by the early 1970s, but influenced subsequent alternative-living projects across the country.

In 2015, Trinidad started to experience a new boom due to the marijuana industry. The town raised $4.4 million in tax revenue from $44 million in annual marijuana sales, about 5.13% of the state's total sales. In 2018 High Times called Trinidad "Weed Town, USA", noting that its 23 licensed retail marijuana dispensaries serving less than 10,000 people amounts to one dispensary per 352 people. "In one downtown block alone along Commercial Street, there were five dispensaries in a single building in town which the owner referred to as the "World's First Pot Mini Mall", others call it the 'weed mall'.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.3 sqmi, all of it land.

Trinidad is situated in the Purgatoire River valley in far southern Colorado at an elevation of 6025 ft. The city lies 13 mi north of the New Mexico border. On the northern end of the town is Simpson's Rest, a prominent bluff named for early resident George Simpson, who is buried atop it. North Avenue leads to a rut-prone county road to the top of Simpson's Rest for overviews of the city. The vista from Simpson's Rest includes Fishers Peak, a prominent mountain of 9600 ft in elevation, southeast of the city. To the northwest are the prominent Spanish Peaks.

Climate
Trinidad experiences a semiarid climate, with hot summers and cold winters. Summer days are hot, but due to Trinidad's high elevation summer nights are cool, and temperatures drop sharply after sunset. Winters are cold, but milder than in many mountain towns in Colorado. In the winter, daytime highs are usually above freezing, but temperatures below 0 F are possible, especially at night.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, 9,078 people, 3,701 households, and 2,335 families resided in the city. The population density was 1,439.4 PD/sqmi. The 4,126 housing units averaged 654.2 /mi2. The racial makeup of the city was 79.97% White, 0.54% African American, 3.02% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 12.12% from other races, and 3.78% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 48.07% of the population.

Of the 3,701 households, 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were not families; 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city, the population was distributed as 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,681, and for a family was $33,992. Males had a median income of $27,817 versus $19,064 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,271. About 16.2% of families and 18.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 20% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
For many years Trinidad housed the miners who worked in the coal mines of the Raton Basin south and west of the town. Major operators included Colorado Fuel and Iron and Victor-American Fuel Company. The mines are now closed, but since the 1980s companies have been drilling new gas wells to extract coalbed methane from the remaining coal seams.

Trinidad's location at the foot of Raton Pass, along the Santa Fe Trail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, has always made it a favored route for travelers, first by foot, then horse and ox-drawn wagon, then railroad. Interstate 25 is the most highly traveled route between Colorado and New Mexico and bisects Trinidad.

In the early 20th century, Trinidad was the closest town to what many consider the beginning of the labor movement. Later that century the town saw swings of boom and bust as the oil industry heated and cooled.

Road

 * [[Image:I-25.svg|20px]] I-25
 * [[Image:US 160.svg|20px]] US 160

Rail

 * Trinidad (Amtrak station), served by the Southwest Chief
 * Junction of BNSF Railway's Raton Subdivision, Twin Peaks Subdivision, and Spanish Peaks Subdivision

Air

 * Perry Stokes Airport

Bus

 * South Central Council of Governments operates demand-responsive transport in Trinidad.
 * Greyhound Lines serves Trinidad on its route between Denver and Albuquerque.
 * Limousine Express serves Trinidad on its route between Denver and El Paso.
 * Trinidad is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Trinidad-Pueblo Outrider line.

Education

 * Trinidad State College

Sports
The Trinidad Triggers are a professional baseball team in the independent Pecos League which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. They play their home games at Trinidad Central Park.

Notable people

 * Buster Adams, major league outfielder
 * Felipe Baca, early settler
 * Casimiro Barela, State Senator, served as Justice of Peace in Trinidad
 * Stanley Biber (1923–2006), physician
 * Marci Bowers, physician
 * Dana B. Chase (1848–1897), photographer
 * Bennett Cohen (1890–1964), film director
 * John Gagliardi, a native, NCAA all-time, all-division winningest football coach
 * Erick Hawkins, modern-dance choreographer and dancer, born in Trinidad
 * Snatam Kaur, singer of Sikh religious music, born in Trinidad
 * Cissy King, dancer on The Lawrence Welk Show, born in Trinidad
 * Ronnie Lane, rock musician, lived in Trinidad during final years of his life
 * Bat Masterson, gunman, town marshal of Trinidad during the 1880s; his brother Jim was also town marshal during the 1880s
 * M. Mike Miller, travel writer and eight-term member of the Alaska House of Representatives, born in Trinidad
 * Arthur Roy Mitchell, Western artist, Trinidad native; the Mitchell Museum houses many of his major works
 * Erskine Sanford, actor, notable for his work with Orson Welles in films such as Citizen Kane
 * Alice Ivers Tubbs, frontier gambler known as "Poker Alice"
 * Thomas Wilson, composer, born in Trinidad in 1927, lived there 17 months before moving to Glasgow
 * Ed Wolff, actor and circus giant
 * Ina Eloise Young, first female sports editor

title: Trinidad, Colorado


text:
Arriba, Colorado

Arriba is a Statutory Town located in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 202 at the 2020 United States census. Arriba is the Spanish word for "on high" or "above others."

Geography
Arriba is located at 39.28556°N, -103.27556°W (39.285589, -103.275624), along Interstate 70.

At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 1.292 km2, all of it land.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 244 people, 106 households, and 62 families residing in the town. The population density was 523.1 PD/sqmi. There were 127 housing units at an average density of 272.2 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 94.67% White, 0.82% Native American, 1.64% Asian, 2.05% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.74% of the population.

There were 106 households, out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.1% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.6% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.8% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $25,000, and the median income for a family was $27,500. Males had a median income of $27,188 versus $19,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,370. About 8.1% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under the age of eighteen and 19.6% of those 65 or over.

Attractions
The Arriba Town Museum is located in the Arriba Town Hall and contains memorabilia and historic artifacts on the history of the area. Grandpa Jerry's Clown Museum started in 1986 in Sterling and moved to Arriba in 2001. The museum claims to be the largest known collection of collectible clowns (baby rattles, cookie jars, cups, salt and pepper shakers, tea sets, vases, "piggy" banks, music boxes, frames, porcelain pieces, lamps, puppets, etc.). The collection comprises items from 28 states and 13 countries. The museum has since closed.

title: Arriba, Colorado


text:
Genoa, Colorado

Genoa is a statutory town located in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 153 at the 2020 United States Census.

History
A post office called Genoa has been in operation since 1903. The town most likely was named after Genoa, in Italy.

Geography
Genoa is located at 39.27639°N, -103.49889°W (39.276479, -103.498850).

At the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 0.804 km2, all of it land.

Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Genoa has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 211 people, 75 households, and 54 families residing in the town. The population density was 592.4 PD/sqmi. There were 84 housing units at an average density of 235.8 /mi2. The racial makeup of the town was 84.83% White, 7.58% African American, 0.47% Native American, 3.32% from other races, and 3.79% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.27% of the population.

There were 75 households, out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.7% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.0% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 35.1% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $27,375, and the median income for a family was $28,750. Males had a median income of $28,750 versus $22,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,443. About 10.4% of families and 20.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.1% of those under the age of eighteen and 25.0% of those 65 or over.

Attractions
World's Wonder View Tower, a tourist trap and roadside attraction.

title: Genoa, Colorado