Fairplay, Colorado

History

A historic gold mining settlement, the town was founded in 1859 during the early days of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The town was named by settlers who were upset by the generous mining claims given to the earliest prospectors and promised a more equitable system for its residents. The Fair Play, Colorado Territory, post office opened on August 2, 1861, and on November 7, 1867, county voters selected Fair Play as the new seat of Park County, Colorado Territory. The Town of Fair Play was incorporated on November 15, 1872, and changed the spelling of its name to Fairplay on October 1, 1924.

It is the largest community in the grassland basin of Colorado known as South Park, sitting on the west edge of the basin at the junction of U.S. Highway 285 and State Highway 9. It is on a hillside just east of the Middle Fork South Platte River, near where Highway 9 ascends the river valley northward to Alma and Hoosier Pass. It is a quiet town, and the roads surrounding it have a low volume of traffic. Although it was founded during the initial placer mining boom, the mines in the area continued to produce gold and silver ore for many decades up through the middle of the 20th century.

The town consists of modern retail businesses along the highway, as well as a historic town on the bluff above the river along Front Street. The northern extension of Front Street along the river has been preserved and has become the site of relocated historic structures as an open-air museum called South Park City, intended to recreate the early days of the Colorado Gold Rush. Most of the residences in town are located on the hillside west of US Highway 285 and east of State Highway 9, in the vicinity of the schools and Park County Courthouse. The majority of the streets in town were finally paved in 2005.

Geography

At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of 2.995 km2 including 0.024 km2 of water.

Climate

Fairplay has a subarctic or subalpine climate (Koppen: Dfc) given its elevation, with short cool summers, and long, windy and cold winters. Temperature ranges between day and night are large, due to the high elevation, low cloud cover, and dryness of the air. |Jan record high F = 55 |Feb record high F = 57 |Mar record high F = 60 |Apr record high F = 63 |May record high F = 74 |Jun record high F = 83 |Jul record high F = 84 |Aug record high F = 80 |Sep record high F = 77 |Oct record high F = 72 |Nov record high F = 62 |Dec record high F = 53 |year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 47 |Feb avg record high F = 46 |Mar avg record high F = 53 |Apr avg record high F = 59 |May avg record high F = 68 |Jun avg record high F = 78 |Jul avg record high F = 80 |Aug avg record high F = 76 |Sep avg record high F = 73 |Oct avg record high F = 66 |Nov avg record high F = 55 |Dec avg record high F = 47 |year avg record high F = 84

|Jan avg record low F= -7 |Feb avg record low F= -11 |Mar avg record low F= -2 |Apr avg record low F = 8 |May avg record low F = 15 |Jun avg record low F = 29 |Jul avg record low F = 37 |Aug avg record low F = 34 |Sep avg record low F = 26 |Oct avg record low F = 9 |Nov avg record low F = -2 |Dec avg record low F = −11 |year avg record low F = −14

|Jan record low F = −20 |Feb record low F = −28 |Mar record low F = −11 |Apr record low F = -5 |May record low F = 2 |Jun record low F = 23 |Jul record low F = 33 |Aug record low F = 30 |Sep record low F = 18 |Oct record low F = -14 |Nov record low F = -13 |Dec record low F = −19 |year record low F =

|access-date = November 4, 2023 |access-date = November 4, 2023

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 610 people, 259 households, and 169 families residing in the town. The population density was 576 PD/sqmi. There were 337 housing units at an average density of 318 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 93% White, 1.3% African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 2.8% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.9% of the population.

There were 259 households, out of which 32% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51% were married couples living together, 8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34% were non-families. 26% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.9% 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 2.8.

Approximately 24% of the town under the age of 18, 8% from 18 to 24, 37% from 25 to 44, 25% from 45 to 64, and 5% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 110 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $50,385, and the median income for a family was $51,980. Males had a median income of $34,290 versus $26,430 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,740. About 6.6% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Burro Days

The Burro Days festival is held on the last weekend of July. The event celebrates the town's mining heritage. The main feature of the festival is a 29-mile (46.7 km) burro race over rough terrain and approximately 3,000-ft (914 m) elevation gain from downtown Fairplay to the 13,185-ft (4019 m) summit of Mosquito Pass. Teams consist of one person and one burro. The race takes about five hours to complete; first prize is $1,000. Previously, the first prize included an ounce of gold. There are several other burro races in Colorado; the most notable takes place in Leadville.

The Fairplay event is the World Championship of Burro Racing, an ultra-marathon and the longest burro race in the state. For many years (in the 1960s and early 1970s) the Burro race took place from Leadville to Fairplay, or vice versa, crossing over Mosquito Pass. This followed the route that Father John Lewis Dyer of the Methodist Episcopal Church used for circuit riding and for carrying mail. With time, the rivalry between the two cities ended this cooperative endeavor.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Fairplay is part of Colorado's Bustang intercity bus network. It is on the Gunnison-Denver Outrider line.

Notable people

• Sheldon Jackson, Presbyterian missionary who established what is now the South Park Community Presbyterian Church in Fairplay

References

References

1. "Active Colorado Municipalities". [[Colorado Department of Local Affairs]].
2. {{cite gnis
3. "Colorado Counties". [[Colorado Department of Local Affairs]].
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7. "ZIP Code Lookup". [[United States Postal Service]].
8. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
9. "Colorado Highways: Elevation-Related Trivia Items". Matthew E. Salek.
10. "The Real South Park Colorado".
11. Noel, Thomas. (August 24, 2022). "Fairplay".
12. Fossett, Frank. (1880). "Colorado, its gold and silver mines: farms and stock ranges, and health and pleasure resorts : tourist's guide to the Rocky Mountains". C.G. Crawford, printer and stationer.
13. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Govt. Print. Off..
14. (1990). "Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989". [[Colorado Railroad Museum.
15. "U.S. Census website". [[United States Census Bureau]].
16. "Burro Days".
17. "Western Pack Burro Ass-ociation".
18. "Bustang Schedule". CDOT.