Laporte, Colorado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Laporte (also spelled LaPorte) is an unincorporated town, a U.S. Census Bureau Census Designated Place (CDP), and a U.S. Post Office located in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The CDP population was 2,691 at the U.S. Census 2000.GR2 The Laporte Post Office has the ZIP Code 80535.[1]
The town is located on the Cache La Poudre River northwest of Fort Collins, near the place where the river emerges from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
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[edit] History
The name la porte means the door in French. The town was named by French-Canadian fur trappers, many with Native American wives, who settled in the area in the mid-19th century. 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.
In November 1861, the territorial legislature designated Laporte as the county seat. In 1862 the first post office opened, and a stage stop was built on the Overland Trail. That same year 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 1,280 acres (5 km²) of land for the town. The army post was destroyed in a flood 1864, prompting the army to relocate the post downstream to a location in present-day Fort Collins. In 1881, a state election was held to determine the location of the state capital. Denver won over Laporte by one vote.
[edit] Geography
Laporte is located at (40.633808, -105.148819)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 15.9 km² (6.1 mi²). 15.8 km² (6.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.49%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 2,691 people, 1,074 households, and 718 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 170.0/km² (440.6/mi²). There were 1,108 housing units at an average density of 70.0/km² (181.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.49% White, 0.22% African American, 1.08% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 2.34% from other races, and 3.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.06% of the population.
There were 1,074 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 102.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.6 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $46,630, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $30,602 versus $25,571 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $19,870. About 4.9% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.6% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Fiction
In L. Neil Smith's North American Confederacy series of novels, beginning with The Probability Broach, Laporte is one of the major cities of North America in an alternate-history world.
[edit] External links
- North Forty News, History of LaPorte
- 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
[edit] References
- ^ ZIP Code Lookup (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service (December 14, 2006). Retrieved on December 14, 2006.
