Trinidad, Colorado

The historic City of Trinidad is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States.^[6] The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 9,077 in 2005.^[7]

Geography

Trinidad is located at (37.170944, -104.506447)^[8].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.3 square miles (16 km²), all of it land.

Trinidad is situated in the Purgatoire River valley at an elevation of 6,025 ft. On the northern end of the town is Simpson's Rest, a prominent bluff named for early resident George Simpson, who is buried atop. North Avenue leads to a rut-prone county road to the top of Simpson's Rest for overviews of the city. The vista from Simpson's Rest includes Fisher's Peak, a prominent mountain of 9,600 ft in elevation, south of the city.

Demographics

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 9,078 people, 3,701 households, and 2,335 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,439.4 people per square mile (555.5/km²). There were 4,126 housing units at an average density of 654.2 per square mile (252.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.97% White, 0.54% African American, 3.02% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 12.12% from other races, and 3.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 48.07% of the population.

There were 3,701 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% 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 2.98.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,681, and the median income for a family was $33,992. Males had a median income of $27,817 versus $19,064 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,271. About 16.2% of families and 18.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.6% of those under age 18 and 20.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

For many years Trinidad housed the miners who worked in the coal mines of the Raton Basin south and west of the town. The coal mines are now closed, but since the 1980s companies have been drilling new gas wells to extract coalbed methane from the remaining coal seams.

Trinidad's location at the foot of Raton Pass, along the Santa Fe Trail between St. Joseph, Missouri and Santa Fe, New Mexico, has always made it a favored route for travellers, first by foot, then horse and ox-drawn wagon, then by railroad. Today Interstate 25, the most highly-travelled route between Colorado and New Mexico, passes through Trinidad.

"Former Sex Change Capital of the World"

Trinidad has been dubbed the "Sex Change Capital of the World", because a local doctor had an international reputation for performing sex reassignment surgery. In the 1960s, Dr. Stanley Biber, a veteran surgeon returning from Korea, decided to move to Trinidad because he had heard that the town needed a surgeon. In 1969 a local social worker asked him if he would perform the surgery for her, which he learned by consulting diagrams and a New York surgeon. Biber attained a reputation as a good surgeon at a time when very few doctors performed the operations. At his peak, Biber was performing roughly four sex change operations a day, and the term "taking a trip to Trinidad" became a euphemism for some seeking the procedures he offered. His surgical practice was taken over in 2003 by Marci Bowers.

Biber was featured in an episode of South Park where elementary school teacher Mr. Garrison undergoes a sex change operation.

Notable people

• The aforementioned Stanley Biber and Marci Bowers.
• John Elway, famous Denver Broncos quarterback holds residence at famed Cougar Canyon Resort.
• John Gagliardi, a native, started coaching football while attending high school in Trinidad and playing on the squad. Gagliardi is the NCAA all-time, all-division winningest football coach.
• Erick Hawkins, leading American modern-dance choreographer and dancer was born in Trinidad.
• Snatam Kaur (singer of Sikh religious music) was born in Trinidad in 1972 and lived there until her family moved two years later.
• Dancer Cissy King of television's The Lawrence Welk Show was born in Trinidad and lived there until the age of three.
• Rock musician Ronnie Lane lived in Trinidad during the final years of his life.
• Bat Masterson, famed Old West gunman, was the town marshal of Trinidad for more than a year during the mid-1880s. His lesser-known brother Jim Masterson, was town marshal during the 1880s.
• Western artist Arthur Roy Mitchell was a Trinidad native. The Mitchell Museum in downtown Trinidad houses many of his major works.
• Thomas Wilson (composer) was born in Trinidad in 1927 and lived there for seventeen months before moving to Glasgow, Scotland.

Transportation

Road

• I-25
• USR 160

Rail

• Trinidad (Amtrak station)

Air

• Perry Stokes Airport

See also

• National Old Trails Road

References

External links

• City Website
• Local Community Website - Trinidadco.com
• Genealogy Forum on Trinidadco.com
  • CDOT map of Trinidad
• Trinidad Land Realty
• The Trinidad Times Independent - Local newspaper
• The Trinidad Times Independent - Current articles