Saguache County (suh-WATCH ) 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 of

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 6,368. 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 Saguache.

History

Saguache County was formed December 29, 1866, in the Territory of Colorado when it was extracted from the northern half of Costilla County. A partition from Lake County on February 9, 1872, added the northwest section of the present-day county.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.05%) is water. It is the 7th largest of Colorado's 64 counties.

Adjacent counties

* Chaffee County - north * Fremont County - northeast * Custer County - east * Huerfano County - southeast * Rio Grande County - south * Alamosa County - south * Mineral County - southwest * Hinsdale County - southwest * Gunnison County - northwest

Major highways

U.S. Highway 285 * Colorado 17

State Highway 17 * Colorado 112

State Highway 112 * Colorado 114

State Highway 114

National protected areas

* Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve * Great Sand Dunes Wilderness * Gunnison National Forest * La Garita Wilderness * Rio Grande National Forest * Sangre de Cristo Wilderness

Trails and byways

* Colorado Trail * Continental Divide National Scenic Trail * Great Parks Bicycle Route * Liberty Road historic mail route open to foot, horse, and bicycle travel between Crestone and the ghost towns of Duncan and Liberty crossing the Baca Mountain Tract Rio Grande National Forest. * Medano Pass Primitive Road * Montville Nature Trail * Mosca Pass Trail * Old Spanish National Historic Trail * Sand Ramp Trail, a

hiking trail A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. " ...

within the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve which skirts the east and north of the dune field.Hiking and Backpacking
accessed July 16, 2010 * Western Express Bicycle Route

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 5,917 people, 2,300 households, and 1,557 families living 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 3,087 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 71.29%

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 ...

, 0.12%

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 ...

, 2.06% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 23.00% from other races, and 3.08% from two or more races. 45.26% 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 2,300 households, out of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% 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, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 26.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.15. In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.40% under the age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 26.90% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 101.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $25,495, and the median income for a family was $29,405. Males had a median income of $25,158 versus $18,862 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 $13,121. About 18.70% of families and 22.60% 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 27.60% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Like many Colorado counties with a strong

presence, Saguache leans Democratic in Presidential elections. The last Republican to carry the county was

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Communities

Towns

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

* Center * Crestone *

Moffat Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. Moffat is arou ...

* Saguache

Unincorporated communities

Alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

* Duncan * La Garita * Mineral Hot Springs * Sargents * Villa Grove

National Register of Historic Places

Saguache County has nine locations listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Crestone and Saguache County Visitor's Agency websiteColorado Historical Society
* {{coord, 38.08, -106.30, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CO_source:UScensus1990 Colorado counties Colorado placenames of Native American origin 1866 establishments in Colorado Territory San Luis Valley of Colorado Populated places established in 1866