Durango, Colorado The City of Durango is the Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. It is home to Fort Lewis College. The United States Census Bureau reported a population of 16,887 in the 2010 census Geography Durango is located at 37°16′N 107°52′W at an elevation of 6,512 ft (1,988 m). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.8 square miles (18 km2). History The town was organized from September 1880 to April 1881 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG;, later known as the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad) as part of their efforts to reach Silverton, Colorado, and service the San Juan mining district, the goal of their "San Juan Extension" built from Alamosa Colorado. The D&RG; chose a site in the Animas Valley close to the Animas River near what's now the Downtown Durango Historic Business District for its railroad facilities following a brief and most likely perfunctory negotiation with the other establishment in the area known as Animas City, two miles to the north. The city was named by ex-Colorado Governor Alexander C. Hunt, a friend of D&RG; President William Jackson Palmer, after Durango, Mexico, based on his favorable impression of that city resulting from a scouting trip undertaken on behalf of Palmer. Palmer among other D&RG; associates such as William Bell started a subsidiary company known as the Durango Trust to sell land and plan a Main Street, 2nd, and 3rd Avenue, and so on to organize the town, taking inspiration from how Palmer founded the city of Colorado Springs. Sales from the Durango Trust skyrocketed by the completion of the D&RG;'s Silverton Branch, by 1885 Durango’s business district had seven hotels and restaurants, eleven saloons, dancehalls and stores, two bakeries and blacksmith shops, and a variety of other businesses, also boosting the town of Silverton’s population to 2,000 at the time. The D&RG;(W) and the Rio Grande Southern Railroad were vital resources to many places including Durango before the major introduction of the automobile, helping transport goods such as produce and mineral traffic in and out of the Southwestern Colorado area, along with other businesses such as the Durango Smelter, immensely supporting the town's economy. However, the Great Depression and aftermath of World War II ended up hurting the area's railroad industry, resulting in the Rio Grande Southern losing most of its traffic in 1951, which later closed and removed from 1952-3. The D&RGW; ended their San Juan Express passenger service from Durango to Alamosa as well. However, the natural scenery along their Silverton Branch had been recognized as a major tourist attraction. In turn, the D&RGW; introduced the major tourism industry into the Durango area, transporting visitors up to Silverton and back and attracting Hollywood into La Plata County for a time. Once the D&RGW; ended up losing its freight traffic in 1968, the tracks from Durango east to Chama, New Mexico, and south to Farmington, New Mexico were removed, but the Silverton Branch remained in operation until 1981 when it was sold and became the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. There are significant archaeological sites surrounding the Durango area featured on the State and National historical registers, including: Mesa Verde National Park, a World Heritage site Chimney Rock National Monument, the most northeastern known outpost of the Ancestral Puebloans Durango Rock Shelters Archeology Site, a Basketmaker and Pueblo culture Spring Creek Archeological District, a Basketmaker and Pueblo site Talus Village, a Basketmaker site Climate According to the Köppen climate classification system, Durango has either a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) or a humid continental climate (Dsb) depending on which variant of the system is used. The average annual precipitation is 19.33 in (491 mm). Its hardiness zone is 5b. Demographics Historical population Census Pop. %± 1890 2,726 — 1900 3,317 21.7% 1910 4,686 41.3% 1920 4,116 −12.2% 1930 5,400 31.2% 1940 5,887 9.0% 1950 7,459 26.7% 1960 10,530 41.2% 1970 10,333 −1.9% 1980 11,649 12.7% 1990 12,430 6.7% 2000 13,922 12.0% 2010 16,887 21.3% 2019 (est.) 18,973 12.4% U.S. Decennial Census As of the 2000 census,there were 13,922 people, 5,492 households, and 2,603 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,052.4 people per square mile (792.8/km2). There were 5,819 housing units at an average density of 857.8 per square mile (331.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 86.8% White, 0.5% African American, 5.5% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 4.1% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.3% of the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durango,_Colorado

• published: 19 Aug 2021
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