My name is Betty Baker, and I am the new person responsible for
Gunnison County, Colorado. Although I coordinate the computer side of
this site - this is YOUR site! Please feel free to submit material to
the site and offer comments and suggestions. If you would like to
contribute any information to this site, contact
me! You will be given credit for all submissions, along with a
healthy dose of good karma. And we owe a big thanks to the previous
County Coordinators, Vicki Grey and Rod Skinner!
BRIEF HISTORY
Gunnison County is located in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. It
was named after Captain John W. Gunnison, who explored the area with a
party of 60 men in 1853. The County boasts of some unusual town names
such as Bacon, Citizen, Dinner Station, Old Man's Cabin, Ruby, Pie
Plant, Tin Cup and Yule Creek.
The first settlement was Richardson's Colony which was founded in
1874 on the site of present-day Gunnison. It was abandoned shortly
thereafter. In 1877 the Ute Indian Agency of Los Pinos was established.
In the same year Gunnison County was carved out of Lake County. By 1879
Professor Sylvester Richardson and Colorado Governor John Evans decided
to try again and founded the town site of Gunnison. Gunnison became the
County Seat and the courthouse was finished in 1880. Pitkin County was
carved out in 1881, and 2 years later, in 1883 the Counties of Delta,
Mesa and Montrose were also carved out.
The elevation of the county ranges from 7,000' to 14,000'. Summers
are pleasant, but Gunnison County is noted as being one of the coldest
areas of Colorado in the winter (-20 degrees is common). Approximately
85% of Gunnison County is Federal land owned by the United States Forest
Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Curecanti National
Recreation Area. The economic base is tourism, skiing, education, mining
and ranching. Western
State College of Colorado is located in Gunnison. The college has an
enrollment of approximately 2,500 students. Gunnison County population
was 11, 931 in July 1995.
The town of Marble, located in northern Gunnison County, is
the site of the
Colorado Yule Marble Company which produced the marble used to build
many famous buildings and monuments in America, including the Lincoln
Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Crested Butte was established in 1879 as a coal mining region,
but nowadays is a popular ski area and resort town.
WHAT'S NEW
May 2008 - The COGenWeb moved from Rootsweb servers to their
own server. Lots of links and housecleaning. If you find any
broken links please let me know.
New cemetery listings and photos from Carolyn Green. The
Tombstone Photo manager is working on the photos. Look for these
soon.
WHAT'S NEW archives
