Gunnison, Colorado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gunnison is a city in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 5,409. It is the county seat of Gunnison CountyGR6. The city was named after John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer who surveyed for the transcontinental railroad in 1853.
Gunnison is the home of Western State College. The Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport serves the valley and nearby Crested Butte, Colorado with both commercial airline and general aviation flights.
Gunnison is located at the bottom of several valleys. Due to its location in the Rocky Mountains, cold air in all the valleys settles into Gunnison at night, making it one of the coldest places in winter in the United States. The average January low is -7°F , and the average July high is 81°F . The record low is -47°F set on December 25, 1924. The record high is 98°F, set on August 15, 1931. [1]
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[edit] History
After the killing of Curley Bill, the Earps left Arizona and headed to Colorado. In a stop over in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wyatt and Holliday had a falling out but remained on fairly good terms. The group split up after that with Holliday heading to Pueblo and then Denver. The Earps and Texas Jack set up camp on the outskirts of Gunnison, Colorado, where they remained quiet at first, rarely going into town for supplies. Eventually, Wyatt took over a faro game at a local saloon.
Slowly all of the Earp assets in Tombstone were sold to pay for taxes, and the stake the family had amassed eroded. Wyatt and Warren joined Virgil in San Francisco in late 1882. While there, Wyatt rekindled a romance with Josie Marcus, Behan's one-time fiancée. His common-law wife, Mattie waited for him in Colton but eventually realized Wyatt was not coming back (Wyatt had left Mattie the house when he left Tombstone). Earp left San Francisco with Josie in 1883 and she became his companion for the next forty-six years (no marriage certificate has been found). Earp and Marcus returned to Gunnison where they settled down, where that state’s governor refused to extradite Wyatt back to Arizona on the grounds that he could not get a fair trial, and Earp continued to run a faro bank.
Gunnison isolated themselves from the surrounding area during the Spanish Influenza epidemic for two months at the end of 1918. All highways were barricaded near the county lines. Train conductors warned all passengers that if they stepped outside of the train in Gunnison, the would be arrested and quarantined for five days. As a result of the isolation, no one died of influenza in Gunnison during the epidemic.
[edit] Geography
Gunnison is located at 38°32'45" North, 106°55'54" West (38.545838, -106.931562)GR1 and altitude 7703 feet (2338 metres) [2].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.3 km² (3.2 mi²). All of it is land and none of it is covered by water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 5,409 people, 2,083 households, and 904 families residing in the city. The population density was 650.6/km² (1,684.6/mi²). There were 2,276 housing units at an average density of 273.8/km² (708.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.49% White, 0.78% African American, 0.78% Native American, 0.55% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.79% from other races, and 2.55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.91% of the population.
There were 2,083 households out of which 21.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.3% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 56.6% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the city the population was spread out with 15.1% under the age of 18, 39.0% from 18 to 24, 24.9% from 25 to 44, 13.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 120.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 122.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,768, and the median income for a family was $41,761. Males had a median income of $27,016 versus $21,194 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,196. About 10.1% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.8% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] External links
- City of Gunnison (official website)
- Western State College of Colorado (official website)
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
