Telluride, Colorado

Encyclopedia : T : TE : TEL : Telluride, Colorado

For other meanings, see Telluride (disambiguation).

Telluride is a town in San Miguel County in southwestern Colorado on the San Miguel River on the west side of the San Juan Mountains. The population was 2,221 at the 2000 census.

Originally a mining town, Telluride is now a major ski resort. In the summer, there are festivals almost every weekend, including the Telluride Film Festival, Telluride Blues & Brews Festival, Mushroom festival, Nothing Day festival and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. It is the county seat of San Miguel County^{[Geographic references#6GR6]}.

Telluride sits in a box canyon. Steep forested mountains and cliffs surround it. Spectacular Bridal Veil Falls is at the head of the canyon. Numerous weathered ruins of old mining operations dot the hillsides.

Telluride was the inspiration for Galt's Gulch in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

Contents

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 Further reading
5 External links

5.0.0.1 Informational
5.0.0.2 Events
5.0.0.3 News Publications

Geography

Telluride is located at [37°56′21″N, 107°48′59″W] (37.939153, -107.816317)^{[Geographic references#1GR1]}.

It is situated at an altitude of 8,750 feet

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²). 1.8 km² (0.7 mi²) of it is land, and there is a small creek that flows through the town.

Demographics

As of the census^{[Geographic references#2GR2]} of 2000, there were 2,221 people, 1,013 households, and 357 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,207.8/km² (3,143.3/mi²). There were 1,938 housing units at an average density of 1,053.9/km² (2,742.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 92.57% White, 0.41% African American, 0.81% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 4.14% from other races, and 1.35% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.20% of the population.

There were 1,013 households out of which 19.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.2% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 64.7% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the town the population was spread out with 14.3% under the age of 18, 12.2% from 18 to 24, 50.9% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 1.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 122.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 127.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $51,938, and the median income for a family was $66,136. Males had a median income of $35,329 versus $30,096 for females. The per capita income for the town was $38,832. About 8.5% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.2% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

History

Telluride, originally named "Columbia," a name rejected by the post office, was named after a rare rich gold ore, Tellurium, which was never actually found in the mountains of Telluride. An alternate theory is that it is a contraction of "to-hell-you-ride."

In June of 1889, Butch Cassidy and his gang robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. This was his first major recorded crime.

Shortly after the turn of the century there were very serious labor disputes in the mines near Telluride. The Colorado National Guard was called out and there were deaths on both sides.

External links

Informational

[Telluride information and photos at Western Mining History]
[Miner's Strikes] Background, Daily Bleed reference page

Events

News Publications

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.