Crested Butte, Colorado

History

The East River Valley where Crested Butte is located was once used as a summer residence by the Ute people. However, they were quickly displaced when European-Americans first entered the area. The first white people to explore the valley were beaver trappers, shortly followed by surveyors. Captain John Gunnison, after whom Gunnison County is named, was one of the early explorers to enter the area, leading a expedition in 1853.

In the 1860s and 1870s coal and silver mines began to open in the surrounding area, and many little mining towns formed. The Crested Butte, Colorado, post office opened on May 26, 1879, and the Town of Crested Butte was incorporated on July 15, 1880.

Mining, along with ranching, formed the nexus of the local economy. However, when silver mining began to decline, many of these towns failed. Crested Butte, however, was in a better position to survive because it served as a supply town to the surrounding area. When the coal mines closed, the town began to shrink, and eventually the local high school was closed. After graduating the class of 1965 (from 1966 until 1990), the Crested Butte public school only facilitated K-5 students, while 6th grade and higher attended school in Gunnison.

The town did not revive until a ski area was built on Crested Butte Mountain in the 1960s. The ski resort was constructed on the former Malensek Ranch, in what is now the neighboring community of Mt. Crested Butte. The resort rapidly revitalized the town's economy around tourism. As a result of the renewed growth, Crested Butte began to offer middle school in the railroad depot building in 1990. In 1992, a new middle school was completed which allowed the public school to facilitate grades K through 8. Finally in 1997, a new facility for the Crested Butte Community School was completed. This included the addition of a public high school so that the school now serves students in grades K-12. In 1993 the Crested Butte Academy opened in Crested Butte, bringing a private high school into town. However, on July 9, 2008, the academy was closed permanently due to financial difficulties that had plagued its entire existence.

The town has changed from a mining town to a tourist retreat catering to the affluent as the ski resort has taken over the local economy. This has led to a housing crisis- the average home in Crested Butte is worth over $900,000.

The Colorado General Assembly in 1990 designated Crested Butte the Wildflower Capital of Colorado.

Geography

Crested Butte is in north-central Gunnison County on the west side of the valley of the Slate River, along Coal Creek. Colorado State Highway 135 runs south from Crested Butte 27 mi to Gunnison, the county seat.

At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of 2.166 km2, all of it land.

Climate

The climate type is dominated by the winter season, a long, bitterly cold period with short, clear days, relatively little precipitation in the form of rain, but massive amounts in the form of snow, and low humidity. The Köppen Climate Classification sub-type for this climate is Dfc (Continental Subarctic Climate). The record snowfall amount was 415 inches in the 1977/1978 winter season.

|Jan record high F = 54 |Feb record high F = 52 |Mar record high F = 58 |Apr record high F = 72 |May record high F = 80 |Jun record high F = 89 |Jul record high F = 89 |Aug record high F = 91 |Sep record high F = 87 |Oct record high F = 78 |Nov record high F = 69 |Dec record high F = 60 |year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 38.0 |Feb avg record high F = 42.4 |Mar avg record high F = 50.5 |Apr avg record high F = 61.1 |May avg record high F = 71.7 |Jun avg record high F = 80.2 |Jul avg record high F = 83.8 |Aug avg record high F = 81.0 |Sep avg record high F = 77.0 |Oct avg record high F = 68.9 |Nov avg record high F = 55.7 |Dec avg record high F = 41.3 |year avg record high F = 84.4

|Jan avg record low F = -27.8 |Feb avg record low F = -25.4 |Mar avg record low F = -16.4 |Apr avg record low F = 3.0 |May avg record low F = 17.4 |Jun avg record low F = 25.6 |Jul avg record low F = 31.3 |Aug avg record low F = 30.6 |Sep avg record low F = 20.2 |Oct avg record low F = 7.0 |Nov avg record low F = -15.4 |Dec avg record low F = -26.1 |year avg record low F = -31.0

|Jan record low F = -43 |Feb record low F = -47 |Mar record low F = -42 |Apr record low F = -17 |May record low F = -1 |Jun record low F = 15 |Jul record low F = 17 |Aug record low F = 17 |Sep record low F = 3 |Oct record low F = -13 |Nov record low F = -30 |Dec record low F = -39 |year record low F =

|Jan snow depth inch = 32.9 |Feb snow depth inch = 39.9 |Mar snow depth inch = 37.7 |Apr snow depth inch = 19.0 |May snow depth inch = 3.7 |Jun snow depth inch = 0.1 |Jul snow depth inch = 0.0 |Aug snow depth inch = 0.0 |Sep snow depth inch = 0.3 |Oct snow depth inch = 3.0 |Nov snow depth inch = 11.7 |Dec snow depth inch = 22.5 |year snow depth inch = 43.0

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,529 people, 692 households, and 253 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,183.1 PD/sqmi. There were 930 housing units at an average density of 1,327.9 /mi2. The racial makeup of the town was 97.19% White, 0.26% African American, 0.92% Native American, 0.72% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.46% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. 2.75% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 692 households, out of which 19.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.9% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 63.3% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.69.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 13.5% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 55.6% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 1.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 124.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 131.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,250, and the median income for a family was $49,118. Males had a median income of $27,386 versus $23,073 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,789. 11.4% of the population and 2.7% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.5% of those under the age of 18 and 0.0% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Arts and culture

Festivals

Crested Butte hosts a number of festivals and parades throughout the year. These include Torchlight, New Years, Winter Carnival, Butte Bash College Ski Week and Mardi Gras during the winter months; Extreme Board Fest, Slushuck and Flauschink during spring; the Crested Butte Bike Week, Crested Butte Music Festival, Crested Butte International Film Festival, 4th of July,{{Cite news| last = Harte| first = Julia| title = Fourth of July Parade Brings Scientists Dressed in Foliage—Some With Nothing Else| work =The Wall Street Journal| access-date = July 4, 2014| date = July 2, 2014

Parks and recreation

The town of Crested Butte has a Nordic Center which has an ice skating rink as well as cross-country skiing trails. The town also has several parks, including Rainbow Park in the western section of town. Several hiking trails also exist, managed by the Crested Butte Land Trust.

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame was located in Crested Butte before moving in 2014 to Fairfax, California.

Media

Movies filmed in Crested Butte include Snowball Express (1972), Snowbeast (1977), The Further Adventures of the Wilderness Family (1978), and Ink (2009), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).

Infrastructure

Crested Butte is served by the Gunnison–Crested Butte Regional Airport in Gunnison. The town runs a free bus service connecting the town of Crested Butte with the ski resort located northeast of town. Additionally, buses connect the town to Gunnison. The town government is currently pursuing a transit and infrastructure strategy to "de-emphasize cars and focusing on walking, biking, rolling and transit".

Since the 1970s, several companies have attempted to mine molybdenum on Mount Emmons (called the "Red Lady") near Crested Butte. In 1977 W Mitchell was elected mayor of Crested Butte and led a campaign which stopped AMAX (now Freeport-McMoRan) from building a billion-dollar molybdenum mine on Mount Emmons. Because of his battle against the anticipated environmental impact, Mitchell is known as the man who "saved a mountain". The same year, 1977, saw the formation of the High Country Citizens' Alliance (HCCA), an environmental organization dedicated to protecting natural resources within the Upper Gunnison River Valley.

Currently the rights for Mount Emmons molybdenum are owned by U.S. Energy Corp. On April 25, 2011, Thomson Creek Metals announced that it had terminated its option agreement with U.S. Energy Corp. to acquire an interest in the Mount Emmons molybdenum project. Although US Energy continued to maintain its commitment to moving the project forward on its own behalf, the withdrawal of Thomson Creek Metals was heralded as a major victory in the town of Crested Butte in its battle against the proposed molybdenum mine.

References

References

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