The Town of Fraser is a

Statutory Town In India, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), also called municipalities, are self-government institutions responsible for the administration of cities, towns, and transitional areas within a state or Union Territory. The 74th amendment to the Const ...

located in Grand County,

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 ...

, United States. The town population was 1,400 at the 2020 United States census, a +14.38% increase since the 2010 United States Census. The town is situated in Middle Park in the valley of the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

along U.S. Highway 40. Its location northwest of Winter Park, the location of a popular ski resort, has provided growth in recent years with new

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

and other real estate developments.

History

Fraser was incorporated in 1953. A post office called Fraser has been in operation since 1876. The town derives its name from Reuben Frazer, a pioneer settler.

Geography

Fraser is located in southeastern Grand County. It is bordered to the south by the town of Winter Park and to the north by unincorporated Tabernash. U.S. Route 40 leads south and east across Berthoud Pass to

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, and northwest to Granby, the largest town in Grand County. At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of including of water. The Fraser River passes through the east side of town, flowing northward toward the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

Climate

Fraser, with an annual mean temperature of (or based on another station in town) is one of the coldest incorporated towns in the lower 48 states. It can and does get frost year-round, totaling 287.3 nights under , rivalled only by towns in northern

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

and

Bodie, California Bodie ( ) is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about southeast of Lake Tahoe, and east-southeast of Bridgeport, California, Bridgepo ...

, among currently inhabited localities in the United States. The total of 63.4 nights under is also among the highest in the contiguous 48 states, but the 59.9 days with highs not topping freezing is exceeded by substantial areas of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, northern

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and the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula of ...

. Both Fraser and

International Falls, Minnesota International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census. International Falls is located on the Rainy R ...

, have claimed the title "Icebox of the Nation", which has caused conflict between the two towns over the years.Riccardi, Nicholas.
Dueling for 'Icebox of Nation'
." '' Journal Gazette.'' March 5, 2007. Retrieved on March 5, 2007. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Fraser has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

, abbreviated ''Dfc'' on climate maps or ''Eolo'' in the

Trewartha climate classification The Trewartha climate classification (TCC), or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC), is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köp ...

. The hottest temperature recorded in Fraser is on August 1, 1969, and the coldest on January 10, 1962. The wettest calendar year has been 1957 with and the driest 1944 with , whilst the most precipitation in one month has been in September 1961. Snowfall is naturally heavy at and has ranged up to in February 1936 and from July 1926 to June 1927. A freeze has been recorded for every single date of the year, one of the only locations in the entire United States to hold that record.

Icebox of the Nation

Fraser, Colorado has been in a dispute with International Falls,

since 1956 over use of the trademark "Icebox of the Nation."Towns feud over claim to be nation's 'icebox'
''Associated Press'', January 14, 2008. Retrieved on May 1, 2015. After several years of legal battles, the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

officially registered the slogan with International Falls on January 29, 2008.Trademark Status & Document Retrieval
United States Patent and Trademark Office, ''Accessed May 1, 2015.''

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 910 people, 410 households, and 191 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 622 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.51%

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 ...

, 0.88%

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 ...

, 0.88% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.22%

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 ...

, 1.10% from other races, and 1.54% from two or more races.

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 were 3.30% of the population. There were 410 households, out of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.2% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.2% 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 2.71. In the town, the population was spread out, with 17.9% under the age of 18, 14.2% from 18 to 24, 46.2% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 3.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 129.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 130.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $38,173, and the median income for a family was $39,643. Males had a median income of $29,583 versus $26,346 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 town was $20,628. About 11.1% of families and 8.8% 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 9.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

provides regular service to Fraser and nearby Winter Park (station code: WIP), operating its ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

'' daily in each direction between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and Emeryville,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. In 2015, Amtrak also resumed seasonal ski train service to the Winter Park Resort, and in 2025 they added a stop in Fraser. The new '' Winter Park Express'' resumed ski train service that had been provided to the resort by

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

's Ski Train for nearly 70 years. Other transportation options include the Bustang, which replaced the Greyhound bus, and Home James Transportation, which has provided shared shuttle and private charter transportation since 1982.

Notable people

* Susan Anderson, physician known as "Doc Susie" * Carlota D. EspinoZa

References

External links

Town of Fraser websiteCDOT map of the Town of Fraser
{{authority control Towns in Grand County, Colorado Towns in Colorado