Mancos, Colorado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Town of Mancos, Colorado | |
| Nickname: Gateway to Mesa Verde | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  Colorado |
| County[1] | Montezuma |
| Founded | 1894 |
| Incorporated (town) | November 30, 1894[2] |
| Government | |
| - Type | Statutory Town[1] |
| - Mayor | Michele Black[3] |
| Area | |
| - Total | 0.6 sq mi (1.5 km²) |
| - Land | 0.6 sq mi (1.5 km²) |
| - Water | 0 sq mi (0 km²) |
| Elevation [4] | 7,028 ft (2,142 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 1,119 |
| - Density | 1,865/sq mi (746/km²) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| - Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code[5] | 81328 |
| Area code(s) | 970 |
| FIPS code | 08-48115 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0179088 |
| Website: Town of Mancos | |
The Town of Mancos is a Statutory Town located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,119 at the 2000 census.
The Town of Mancos is located in southwestern Colorado, near the Four Corners, at the base of Mesa Verde National Park, and holds the trademark for "Gateway to Mesa Verde". Surrounded by rangeland and mountains, Mancos offers a variety of outdoor recreational activities. The Town was founded in 1894, near the site where early Spanish explorers first crossed the Mancos River. It is the commercial center for east Montezuma County, and was considered at one time as a county seat for Mancos County. It is served by U.S. Highway 160 and State Highway 184.
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[edit] History
The Mancos Valley has been settled since at least the 900s, although various severe conditions in the mid to late 1200s saw the area and its multitude of small villages abandoned by the Anasazi. Control of the area was contested by nomadic Navajo and Ute for centuries. Spanish friars and military passed through the area as part of the Old Spanish Trail connecting Nuevo Mexico and Alta California, in the 1700s. The name “Mancos” comes from the famous Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776, though the reason for the name remains unclear (see below). By some unverified accounts the name Mancos refers to the crippled nature of the Spanish explorer's horses after they crossed the San Juan mountains. According to unverified lore, the horses were rejuvenated by the lush green grass in the Mancos Valley. Somewhere in the town is the point at which the Expedition crossed the Rio Mancos on its way to California from Old Mexico.
Part of the original Ute Reservation in 1868, Mancos was part of the San Juan Cession of 1873, and cattle ranchers began settling the Mancos Valley in the 1870s, providing cattle to the mining camps of the San Juan and La Plata Ranges. Today, the boundary of the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation is located some six miles south of town. At the time it was founded, Mancos served as the primary commercial trading center for eastern Montezuma County, rivaling the Town of Dolores to the northwest. At that time, the City of Cortez, now the County seat, was barely a bend in the wagon trail. In the 1890s, Mancos was platted and built as a stop along the Rio Grande Southern built by Otto Mears - Colorado's southwestern railroad pathfinder, connecting Durango to the east, and to the Telluride mining districts to the north, via Dolores. Ranchers in the Mancos Valley continued to provide beef, timber, and other agricultural products to the mining camps. Following this, LDS colonists moved into the area and established farms and small communities such as Weber and Cherry Creek.
Incorporated in 1894, Mancos town government quickly asserted itself, banning fast riding and driving (of wagons) in town the next year, as well as building boardwalks. A water system and electrical system were constructed in 1904, followed by a new bridge across the river in 1905 and concrete sidewalks in 1909. However, most side streets of the town remain unpaved. The abandonment of the railroad in the 1950s allowed US 160 to be constructed along Railroad Avenue, leaving Grand Avenue, the town's main street, as a business route; an earlier route of US 160 is now County Road J, south of the river and most of the town. The establishment of Mesa Verde National Park also encouraged early growth of Mancos.
Attempts to create a separate Mancos County from the eastern portion of Montezuma County in the mid-1900s failed. Agricultural development, and to a certain extent, tourism, benefited from the Mancos Project of the US Bureau of Reclamation in the 1950s, which created Jackson Reservoir north of the town, today the site of Mancos State Park. This project also supplies water for the town, a rural water district, and Mesa Verde National Park.
In recent years the growth of Durango has spread to Mancos, making the town something of an art colony. Aramark, the concessionaire for Mesa Verde, has facilities in the town, and there is a specialty aspen sawmill and other small industrial enterprises. The community is eclectic, and several civic leaders are openly homosexual: the community is known for its tolerance.[6] Numerous events are held in the town each year, including Mancos Days the last weekend in July, a motorcycle rally over Labor Day weekend, and a balloon festival in September. Much of the farm and ranch land in the Mancos Valley has been subdivided into rural residential and "hobby ranch" properties in recent years, as is happening in much of Montezuma County. Several major subdivisions immediately adjacent to Mancos are in various stages of development and are expected to greatly increase the town's population by 2010.
[edit] Geography
Mancos is located at (37.345420, -108.292412)[7].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²), all of it land.
Mancos is located in the Mancos Valley at an elevation of approximately 7,000 feet. The Mancos River was named by Spanish explorers (Rio de los Mancos - River of the Sleeve) perhaps for the way the river, which rises in the La Plata Mountains northeast of Mancos, drains the Valley and then flows into the narrow confines of Weber Canyon and Mancos Canyon, southwest of Mesa Verde, where it joins the San Juan River. The town's skyline is dominated by the mass of Mesa Verde to the west, Menefee Mountain to the southeast, and the La Platas.
Originally laid out as a railroad town, Mancos stretches for approximately a mile along the river and on both sides of it, while newer areas lie north of the old railroad alignment (now US 160, also known as part of the San Juan Skyway and the Old Spanish Trail). The small main business district lies along Business Route 160, Grand Avenue, while newer business areas are located along the main highway. The highly-publicized death of a schoolchild in 2003 led to a major reconstruction of US 160 through the town in following years, creating a very odd street pattern which somewhat hampers development.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[8] of 2000, there were 1,119 people, 478 households, and 292 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,938.4 people per square mile (744.9/km²). There were 524 housing units at an average density of 907.7/sq mi (348.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 88.65% White, 2.23% Native American, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 7.86% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.42% of the population.
There were 478 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,223, and the median income for a family was $32,188. Males had a median income of $27,708 versus $17,292 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,946. About 11.8% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.
Since 2000, new residents in the area include workers who commute to Durango and Cortez, as well as retirees seeking a milder climate and more reasonable prices than to the South. However, the town and valley remain divided into the three traditional groupings: the ranching families, the LDS farming families, and the arts/homosexual community; normally "fringe groups" in larger towns, these groups are virtually the entire community of the Mancos Valley, and largely dictate its politics, economy, and society.
[edit] See also
- Mesa Verde National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Old Spanish National Historic Trail
- Colorado municipalities
[edit] References
- ^ a b Active Colorado Municipalities (HTML). State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
- ^ Colorado Municipal Incorporations (HTML). State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives (2004-12-01). Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
- ^ Mancos, Colorado: Boards & Commissions (HTML). Town of Mancos. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
- ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ ZIP Code Lookup (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service. Retrieved on November 17, 2007.
- ^ Four Corners Free Press Official Website
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
- Mancos, Colorado is at coordinates Coordinates:
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