Chaffee County is a county 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 19,476. 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 Salida.

History

Chaffee County has a confusing origin. Between February 8 and 10, 1879, Carbonate County was created by the Colorado legislature out of northern Lake County. On February 10 the two counties were renamed, with the southern part of Lake County becoming Chaffee County, and Carbonate County becoming Lake County. Chaffee County is known as the “Heart of the Rockies”. It was named for Jerome B. Chaffee, Colorado's first United States Senator.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Lake County - north * Park County - northeast * Fremont County - southeast * Saguache County - south * Gunnison County - west *

Pitkin County Pitkin County is a county in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,358. The county seat and largest city is Aspen, Colorado, Aspen. The county is named for Colorado Governor Frederi ...

- northwest

Major highways

U.S. Highway 24 * US 50

U.S. Highway 50 * US 285

U.S. Highway 285 * Colorado 291

State Highway 291 * Colorado 306

State Highway 306

National protected areas

* Browns Canyon National Monument * Buffalo Peaks Wilderness * Collegiate Peaks Wilderness * San Isabel National Forest

Recreation area

* Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area

Trails

* American Discovery Trail * Colorado Trail * Continental Divide National Scenic Trail

Bicycle routes

* Great Parks Bicycle Route * Western Express Bicycle Route

Demographics

At the 2000 census there were 16,242 people, 6,584 households, and 4,365 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 8,392 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 90.94% White, 1.58% Black or African American, 1.09% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 4.21% from other races, and 1.69% from two or more races. 8.58% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 6,584 households 25.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.70% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.70% were non-families. 28.40% of households were one person and 11.20% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.77. The age distribution was 19.70% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 28.00% from 25 to 44, 27.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.00% 65 or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.20 males. The median household income was $34,368 and the median family income was $42,043. Males had a median income of $30,770 versus $22,219 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,430. About 7.40% of families and 11.70% 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 17.30% of those under age 18 and 10.20% of those age 65 or over. Chaffee County is also home to a source of water that Arrowhead water uses for some water bottles. The source is Ruby Mountain Springs.

Politics

Chaffee County was long a Republican stronghold, but has recently trended towards the Democrats. In 2008

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

lost the county by only 11 votes, and he carried it in 2012 by 16 votes, the first Democrat to win it since Lyndon Johnson's 1964 landslide. In 2016

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

flipped the county narrowly back into the Republican column, but Joe Biden won the county in 2020, the first candidate from either party to win the county by a full majority since 2004.

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

won the county by a larger margin in 2024, becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win the county while losing the presidential election since 1908.

Communities

City

* Salida

Towns

* Buena Vista * Poncha Springs

Census-designated places

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

* Johnson Village * Maysville * Nathrop * Smeltertown

Unincorporated communities

* Alpine * Belleview * Browns Canon * Centerville * Cleora * Futurity *

Granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

* Newett * Princeton * Riverside * Rockdale * St. Elmo * Stonewall *

Turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

Ghost towns

* St. Elmo * Vicksburg * Winfield

References

External links

Cultural, Historical and Archeological ResourcesChaffee County Clerk of CourtChaffee County Government websiteColorado Historical SocietyGeologic Map of the Harvard Lakes 7.5ʹ Quadrangle, Park and Chaffee Counties, Colorado

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

{{coord, 38.74, -106.18, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CO_source:UScensus1990 Chaffee County, Colorado, 1879 establishments in Colorado Colorado counties Populated places established in 1879