Baca County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,506. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Springfield. Located at the southeast corner of Colorado, the county shares state borders with

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

History

Baca County was created by the Colorado legislature on April 16, 1889, out of eastern portions of Las Animas County. Baca County was named in honor of pioneer and Colorado territorial legislator

Felipe Baca Luis Felipe de Jesús Baca (1828–1874) was an American farmer, rancher, and politician. He founded the city of Trinidad, Colorado, Trinidad in the state of Colorado. Baca County, Colorado is named for him. Biography He was born in Taos, New ...

. Prior to the 1880s there was little activity in the county, other than along the Cutoff Branch of the Santa Fe Trail that crosses its extreme southeastern corner. The 1910s saw wet years and expansion due to the increase in acreage that could be homesteaded. World War I also brought increased demand for agricultural products. The arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1926 created new towns and a population increase. The

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of natural factors (severe drought) and hum ...

arrived in the 1930s, with Baca County being one of the hardest hit areas. This prompted soil conservation efforts by the federal government. Part of this effort was the purchase of cultivated land by the government in order to return it to grassland. Today the U.S. Forest Service supervises 220,000 acres of Comanche National Grassland which was purchased in the 1930s. These areas include Carrizo Creek and Picture Canyon. Colorado Parks and Wildlife maintains the recreational areas at Two Buttes Lake and Turk's Pond. On May 18, 1977, an F4 tornado struck the southeastern portion of Baca County, causing an estimated $2.5 million in damage. It tracked from Keyes, Oklahoma, where damage was estimated at $25,000. As of 2020, this is the only F4/ EF4

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

ever recorded in

since 1950.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.09%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Prowers County, Colorado (north) *

Stanton County, Kansas Stanton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Johnson City. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,084. It was named for Edwin Stanton, the U.S. Secretary of War during most of the Civil Wa ...

(east/Central Time border) *

Morton County, Kansas Morton County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Elkhart. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,701. The county was named after Oliver Morton, the 14th go ...

(east/Central Time border) *

Cimarron County, Oklahoma Cimarron County is the westernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Boise City, Oklahoma, Boise City. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,296, making it the le ...

(south/Central Time border) * Union County, New Mexico (southwest) * Las Animas County, Colorado (west) *

Bent County, Colorado Bent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 5,650. The county seat and only Colorado municipalities, incorporated municipality is Las Animas, Colorado, Las ...

(northwest)

Major highways

U.S. Highway 160 * US 385

U.S. Highway 385 * Colorado 116

State Highway 116

National historic trail

* Santa Fe National Historic Trail

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 4,517 people, 1,905 households, and 1,268 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 2,364 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 93.73%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.04%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.20% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.09%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.99% from other races, and 1.79% from two or more races. 7.02% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 1,905 households, out of which 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.80% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families. 30.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.90. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.50% under the age of 18, 5.90% from 18 to 24, 22.70% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 22.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,099, and the median income for a family was $34,018. Males had a median income of $23,169 versus $18,292 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $15,068. About 12.90% of families and 16.90% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 21.60% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

The town is served by the Southeast Colorado Hospital. Springfield Municipal Airport is located a few miles north of Springfield.

Politics

Like all of the High Plains, Baca County has long been overwhelmingly Republican. The last Democrat to carry the county was

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

in his 1964 landslide – when he carried all but three Colorado counties. The Republican tilt has been increasing in recent elections; in 2016, 2020, and 2024, Donald Trump's performance was each time the best by any Republican in county history.

Communities

Towns

* Campo * Pritchett * Springfield (county seat) * Two Buttes * Vilas *

Walsh Walsh may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mount Walsh, Mount Walsh National Park Canada * Fort Walsh, one of the first Royal Canadian Mounted ...

Unincorporated communities

* Bartlett * Buckeye Crossroads * Deora *

Edler Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of nobility in Austria-Hungary and Germany, just beneath a '' Ritter'' (hereditary knight), but above untitled nobles, who used only the nobiliary particle ''von'' before their surname. It was mostly given t ...

* Lycan * Stonington * Stuart * Utleyville

Gallery

File:Map of states and counties affected by the Dust Bowl, sourced from US federal government dept. (NRCS SSRA-RAD).svg, Area affected by 1930s

File:Dust Storms, "Kodak view of a dusk storm Baca Co., Colorado, Easter Sunday 1935", Photo by N.R. Stone - NARA - 195659.tif, Dust Storm in Baca County, 1935.

References

External links

Official Baca County websiteBaca County HistoryColorado Historical SocietyTown of Campo official website
*
Town of Walsh official website
{{coord, 37.32, -102.56, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CO_source:UScensus1990 1889 establishments in Colorado Colorado counties Eastern Plains Populated places established in 1889