Steamboat Springs, Colorado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steamboat Springs, known as Ski Town USA, is a city in Routt County, Colorado, United States. The population was 9,815 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Routt CountyGR6. The town is an internationally known winter resort destination, highlighted by the Steamboat Ski Resort, which is on Mount Werner in the Park Range just east of the town. It also contains the much smaller Howelsen Hill ski area. It is located in the upper valley of the Yampa River, along U.S. Highway 40 just west of the Continental Divide at Rabbit Ears Pass.
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[edit] Geography
Steamboat Springs is located at (40.476379, -106.826654)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 26.1 km² (10.1 mi²), all land.
The Yampa Valley and surrounding area contain several geothermal hot springs. The city is named after the Steamboat Spring, located near the present day library, whose bubbling sounded like a steamboat to early white settlers. Unfortunately, blasting for the railroad in 1908 silenced the chugging spring. There are currently two public springs in Steamboat that are open to the public. The biggest is at the Steamboat Health and Rec Center, with multiple pools and a slide. A few miles out of town up in the hills is Strawberry Park Hot Springs, with two pools and complete darkness so you can relax under the stars. Clothing is optional after dark.
The Yampa River--a popular place for fishing, rafting, tubing and kayaking--flows through Steamboat Springs.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 9,815 people, 4,084 households, and 2,082 families residing in the city. The population density was 377.1/km² (976.1/mi²). There were 6,373 housing units at an average density of 244.8/km² (633.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.88% White, 0.13% African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.73% from other races, and 1.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.13% of the population.
There were 4,084 households out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.5% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.0% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the city the population was spread out with 18.7% under the age of 18, 13.8% from 18 to 24, 40.1% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 4.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 123.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 128.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $54,647, and the median income for a family was $65,685. Males had a median income of $35,536 versus $28,244 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,695. About 2.7% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
The area was originally inhabited by the Yampatika Utes, who hunted in the valley during the summer. Trappers began to move into the area in the first decades of the 19th century. Ranchers soon followed, and the area still contains a large ranching community. The Utes were forcibly removed from the area to a reservation in Utah by the U.S. Army starting in 1879.
Skiing was an early key factor in the development of the town, and all over the Rocky Mountains, because it was largely the only way for people to get around in the winter. In 1913, Carl Howelsen, a Norwegian, moved to town and introduced ski jumping, building a jump on Howelsen Hill. He also started the annual Winter Carnival, a celebration still held each winter that includes ski racing and jumping, dog sled and chariot events down Main Street, as well as skiing light shows on both Mount Werner and Howelsen Hill at night.
The Steamboat Ski Resort was largely started by two men, Jim Temple and John Fetcher. Temple headed up the effort to build the area and Fetcher, a local rancher, was the main designer and builder. It opened on what was then called Storm Mountain in 1963.
[edit] Sister cities
Steamboat Springs has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
Saasfee, Switzerland
San Martin de los Andes, Argentina
[edit] References
[edit] Points of interest
[edit] External links
- City of Steamboat Springs (official website)
- Steamboat Springs Chamber of Commerce (Steamboat Springs Events Calendar and business information)
- Routt County Community Web Page (Routt County community info and resources)
- Steamboat Springs Arts Council (Steamboat Arts Group)
- Steamboat Pilot (Local Steamboat newspaper)
- [1] (Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club)
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
