Silver Cliff, Colorado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Town of Silver Cliff, Colorado | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  Colorado |
| County[1] | Custer County |
| Incorporated | February 10, 1879[2] |
| Government | |
| - Type | Statutory Town[1] |
| Area | |
| - Total | 15.6 sq mi (40.5 km²) |
| - Land | 15.6 sq mi (40.5 km²) |
| - Water | 0 sq mi (0 km²) |
| Elevation [3] | 7,986 ft (2,434 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 512 |
| - Density | 32.8/sq mi (12.6/km²) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| - Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 81252 |
| Area code(s) | 719 |
| FIPS code | 08-70250 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0192157 |
| Website: Town of Silver Cliff | |
The historic Town of Silver Cliff is a Statutory Town that is the most populous town in Custer County, Colorado, United States. The population was 512 at the 2000 census.
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[edit] History
Silver Cliff was formed in the 1880s to house the miners of its namesake, the Silver Cliff mine, and other silver mines in the neighborhood, such as the Bull-Domingo. The town was, for a few years in the early 1880s, the third most populous town in Colorado, after Denver and Leadville.
Silver Cliff was the county seat from 1886 (when the town won the seat from Rosita) to 1928 (when the seat moved to nearby Westcliffe).
The Silver Cliff mine, also known as the Geyser mine, is on the hill immediately south of the town. Although a large operation that employed many residents of Silver Cliff, the mine was the unfortunate object of eastern stock manipulators. Shares in the Silver Cliff mine were promoted in 1879 by James R. Keene, a famous New York stock operator. The company went bankrupt within a few years, and was sold to the Julianna Mining Company, which was run by an even more unscrupulous stock promoter, Dr. Richard C. Flower of Boston. The Julianna company went bankrupt in 1888. The shareholders rescued the company, and renamed it the Geyser Mining Company. Although Flower withdrew from the management, the Geyser Mining Company continued to be run by some of Flower’s cronies, so it should not be a surprise that the mine never made a profit. At one time the Geyser mine was the deepest mine in Colorado.[4]
[edit] Geography
Silver Cliff is located at (38.136432, -105.439492)[5]. The town of Westcliffe is immediately adjacent to its west.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 15.6 square miles (40.5 km²), all of it land.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 512 people, 217 households, and 141 families residing in the town. The population density was 32.8 people per square mile (12.7/km²). There were 284 housing units at an average density of 18.2/sq mi (7.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.51% White, 0.20% African American, 2.73% Native American, 0.59% from other races, and 0.98% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.95% of the population.
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 5,040 |
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| 1890 | 546 | −89.2% | |
| 1900 | 576 | 5.5% | |
| 1910 | 250 | −56.6% | |
| 1920 | 241 | −3.6% | |
| 1930 | 201 | −16.6% | |
| 1940 | 309 | 53.7% | |
| 1950 | 217 | −29.8% | |
| 1960 | 153 | −29.5% | |
| 1970 | 126 | −17.6% | |
| 1980 | 280 | 122.2% | |
There were 217 households out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.0% were non-families. 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the town the population was spread out with 29.7% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,000, and the median income for a family was $32,917. Males had a median income of $26,389 versus $17,109 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,899. About 16.7% of families and 20.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.3% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.
[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.
- ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Dan Plazak (2006) A Hole in the Ground with a Liar at the Top ISBN 978-0-87480-840-7
- ^ 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
- Silver Cliff, Colorado is at coordinates Coordinates:
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