Westcliffe, Colorado Explained

Westcliffe, Colorado
Mapsize:250x200px
Subdivision Type2:County[1]
Subdivision Name2:Custer County - seat[2]
Leader Name:Paul Wenke
Established Date3:November 21, 1887[3]
Unit Pref:Imperial
Area Footnotes:[4]
Area Total Km2:3.20
Area Land Km2:3.20
Area Water Km2:0.00
Area Total Sq Mi:1.24
Area Land Sq Mi:1.24
Area Water Sq Mi:0.00
Population Footnotes:[5]
Population Total:435
Population Density Km2:auto
Population Density Sq Mi:auto
Utc Offset:-7
Utc Offset Dst:-6
Coordinates:38.13°N -105.4625°W
Elevation Ft:7871
Postal Code Type:ZIP code[6]
Postal Code:81252
Blank Info:08-83450
Blank1 Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank1 Info:2413471

Westcliffe is a statutory town that is the county seat of Custer County, Colorado, United States.[7] [2] At the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 435.

History

Westcliffe had its start in 1881 when the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad was extended to that point.[8] In 1976, Sangre de Cristo Seminary was founded near Westcliffe, where it still operates.

Geography

Westcliffe is located west of the geographic center of Custer County in the Wet Mountain Valley, between the Wet Mountains to the east and the Sangre de Cristo Range to the west. The town of Silver Cliff is immediately to the east of Westcliffe.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 3.2km2, all of it land.[9]

Dark skies

Westcliffe, and neighboring Silver Cliff, Colorado, are recognized as IDA International Dark Sky Communities by The International Dark-Sky Association. Gentle persuasion has resulted in residents and business in the towns and surrounding ranch land reducing the amount of light pollution.[10]

Locals have set up a free observatory in an old period building with a "roll-off" roof to open up the 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with computer-guided pointing and tracking to the skies overhead. Named the Smokey Jack Observatory, it was built in 2015.[11] [12]

Demographics

Notable people

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Active Colorado Municipalities . State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs . September 1, 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091212060308/http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html . December 12, 2009 .
  2. Web site: Colorado County Seats. State of Colorado, Department of Public Health and Environment. December 31, 2007.
  3. Web site: Colorado Municipal Incorporations . State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives . December 1, 2004 . September 2, 2007.
  4. Web site: 2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files. United States Census Bureau. July 1, 2020.
  5. Web site: Westcliffe town, Colorado . United States Census Bureau. March 31, 2023 .
  6. Web site: ZIP Code Lookup . . . January 8, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101122200027/http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp . November 22, 2010 .
  7. Web site: Find a County. June 7, 2011. National Association of Counties.
  8. Web site: John Fielder's Best of Colorado . Big Earth Publishing . 2002 . November 4, 2013 . Fielder, John . 297.
  9. Web site: Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Westcliffe town, Colorado. https://archive.today/20200212181518/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US0883450. dead. February 12, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. June 24, 2014.
  10. News: Jack Healy . Colorado Towns Work to Preserve a Diminishing Resource: Darkness . August 13, 2016 . . August 12, 2016.
  11. Web site: WATCH: Visit a dark sky observatory for free stargazing in southern Colorado. July 18, 2019. August 26, 2019.
  12. https://www.darkskiescolorado.org/smokey-jack-observatory Smokey Jack Observatory, Dark skies of the Wet Mountain Valley
  13. News: Stage and screen star Anne Kimbell Relph dies . Wet Mountain Tribune . June 1, 2017 . June 11, 2017.

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