Sargents is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and a

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

Saguache County Saguache County (suh-WATCH ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,368. The county seat is Saguache. History Saguache County was formed December 29, 1866 in the Territory of Colorado wh ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, United States. The Sargents Post Office has the ZIP code 81248.

History

The community was established in 1880 and was originally called Marshalltown, named after nearby

Marshall Pass Marshall Pass, elevation , is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of central-southern Colorado, US. It lies in northern Saguache County on the Continental Divide between the Sawatch Range to the north and the Cochetopa Hills to the south. Th ...

. In 1882 the community was renamed Sargents after Joseph Sargent, a local cattleman and the settlement's first postmaster. The town owed its existence to the

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

which reached Marshalltown in 1881. The railroad line crossed the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

over Marshall Pass and descended to Marshalltown before following Tomichi Creek west to Gunnison. This line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad ultimately connected

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

with

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

and points farther west. The station in Sargents was home to helper engines that were used to assist heavily laden trains over the pass. The Sargents station had a roundhouse, a

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

, and a water tank. It was an important depot for the export of mine ore and lumber produced in the area, and it was also used by passengers traveling to and from the mining camps and towns in the upper Tomichi Creek valley. The population of Sargents greatly diminished when the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad discontinued passenger service in 1940 and completely abandoned the line in 1955. Partially offsetting the loss of the railroad was the construction of the transcontinental

U.S. Highway 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. In 1939 the new highway was routed over the Continental Divide at nearby

Monarch Pass Monarch Pass (elevation ) is a high mountain pass in central Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as th ...

and southwestward down Agate and Tomichi Creeks and through Sargents. The community still maintains some roadside services for highway travelers.

Geography

Sargents is located at (38.4041630, -106.4150280).

References

External links

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Saguache County, Colorado Unincorporated communities in Colorado

History

Geography

See also

References

External links