Mesa County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 sove ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, 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 wes ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 155,703. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Grand Junction. The county was named for the many large

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

s in the area, including Grand Mesa. Mesa County comprises the Grand Junction, CO

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. In 2020 it ranked as the 271st most populous metropolitan area in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is the only metropolitan area in

not located on the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county by area in Colorado.

Adjacent counties

* Garfield County – north * Pitkin County – east * Gunnison County – east * Delta County – southeast * Montrose County – south * Grand County,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

– west

Major highways

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

* * *

U.S. Highway 6 * US 50

U.S. Highway 50 * Colorado 65

State Highway 65 * Colorado 139

State Highway 139 * Colorado 141

State Highway 141 * Colorado 330

State Highway 330 * Colorado 340

State Highway 340 * 45 1/2 Rd

National protected areas

Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness The Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness (BRCW) is located in western Colorado with a small portion extending into eastern Utah, USA, within the arid Colorado Plateau region approximately west of Grand Junction, Colorado. The wilderness lies on the n ...

Colorado National Monument Colorado National Monument is a National Park Service unit near the city of Grand Junction, Colorado. Sheer-walled canyons cut deep into sandstone and granite–gneiss–schist rock formations. This is an area of desert land high on the Colorad ...

* Dominguez Canyon Wilderness * Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area (part) *

Grand Mesa National Forest The Grand Mesa National Forest is a U.S. National Forest in Mesa, Delta and Garfield Counties in Western Colorado. It borders the White River National Forest to the north and the Gunnison National Forest to the east. The forest covers most of ...

* Manti-La Sal National Forest *

McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area The McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (MCNCA) is a National Conservation Area located in Mesa County, west of Grand Junction, Colorado. The MCNCA has rugged sandstone canyons, natural arches, spires, and alcoves carved into the Colora ...

(part) *

Uncompahgre National Forest Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km2) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose County, Colorado, Montrose, Mesa County, Colorado, Mesa, San Miguel Count ...

White River National Forest White River National Forest is a National Forest in northwest Colorado. It is named after the White River that passes through its northern section. It is the most visited National Forest in the United States, primarily from users of the twelv ...

State protected areas

* Highline Lake State Park * James M. Robb – Colorado River State Park * Vega State Park

Trails and byways

American Discovery Trail The American Discovery Trail is a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. Horses can also be ridden on most of this trail. The coastal tra ...

* Dinosaur Diamond Prehistoric Highway National Scenic Byway * Grand Mesa National Scenic and Historic Byway * Kokopelli Trail *

Old Spanish National Historic Trail Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

*Unaweep/Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway *Colorado Riverfront Trail

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 146,723 people, 58,095 households, and 38,593 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

was 44.1 people per square mile (17.23.1/km²). There were 62,644 housing units. Information that follows comes from the 2000 American Factfinder data: The racial makeup of the county was 92.34%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.46%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.91% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.10%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 3.67% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.99% from two or more races. 10.02% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race. There were 45,823 households, out of which 31.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 9.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 25.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.94. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.00% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 26.70% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,864, and the median income for a family was $43,009. Males had a median income of $32,316 versus $22,374 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $18,715. About 7.00% of families and 10.20% 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 t ...

, including 11.50% of those under age 18 and 8.10% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Unlike most urban counties, Mesa County is strongly Republican. It has voted Democratic only once since 1952, during Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 landslide, and

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

in the following 1968 election is the last Democrat to tally forty percent of the county’s vote.

2020-2021 alleged county clerk election tampering

It was reported in August 2021 that the Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in May 2021 allowed an unauthorized person into a secure facility during an annual

upgrade Upgrading is the process of replacing a product with a newer version of the same product. In computing and consumer electronics an upgrade is generally a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to ...

to the county's election equipment

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

, compromising the equipment. The security breach meant Mesa County would not be able to use the equipment for its fall 2021 election. This was not the first time Peters had been a source of election controversy. In February 2020, it was discovered that Peters' office neglected to count 574 ballots cast in a dropbox outside her office. These uncounted ballots were cast in the November 2019 election and remained uncounted in the dropbox for 3 months. They were found only because Peters' office checked the dropbox for ballots cast in the next election - the 2020 presidential primary. This prompted an attempt to recall Peters as county clerk. The effort was unsuccessful. In March 2022, Peters was indicted by a Mesa County grand jury on seven felony and three misdemeanor counts of election tampering and misconduct related to the alleged May 2021 security breach. Her deputy, Belinda Knisley, was charged on six counts. At the time of indictment, Peters was a candidate for

Colorado Secretary of State The secretary of state of Colorado is the secretary of state of the state of Colorado in the United States. The office is one of five elected constitutional offices in the state. The current secretary of state is Democrat Jena Griswold. Structur ...

, a position that would involve supervising the state's elections. In May 2022, a Colorado district judge prohibited Peters and Knisley from overseeing November 2022 Mesa County elections, the second year of such a prohibition.

Communities

Cities

* Fruita * Grand Junction

Towns

* Collbran * De Beque * Palisade

Census-designated places

* Clifton * Fruitvale * Loma * Orchard Mesa * Redlands

Other unincorporated places

* Carpenter * Gateway * Mack *

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

* Molina * Plateau City *

Whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

* Cameo

Transportation

Road

runs from

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

in Cove Fort, Utah to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, connecting Grand Junction to

Denver 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 ...

, Kansas City,

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Indianapolis, and Columbus. Via

, it connects Grand Junction with

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, and

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. * U.S. Highway 6 serves 14 states, running east–west from

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

, to

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is a city in California, United States. It is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of . The city was ...

. In

, it generally runs parallel to

Interstate 76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular ...

and

. * U.S. Highway 50 crosses 12 states, linking

Ocean City, Maryland Ocean City, officially the Town of Ocean City, is an Atlantic resort town in Worcester County, Maryland along the East Coast of the United States. The population was 6,844 at the 2020 U.S. census, although during summer weekends the city hosts b ...

, with

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. In

, U.S. 50 connects Grand Junction with Montrose, Gunnison, and

Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

, and to the west, it travels into the state of

. * SH 340 runs east–west, starting at First Street in downtown Grand Junction, traversing the Redlands and ending at U.S. Highway 6 and U.S. Highway 50 in Fruita.

Air

Downtown Grand Junction is 4.8 miles from Grand Junction Regional Airport, 25 miles from Mack Mesa Airport, and 12.6 miles from Pinyon Airport.

Train

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

station is in downtown Grand Junction. The

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

makes daily stops on its way between

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Bus

A regional Bustang bus stop is in Grand Junction. Grand Valley Transit serves the area's eleven fixed routes.

References

External links

Mesa County official websiteColorado Historical Society
{{authority control Colorado counties 1883 establishments in Colorado Populated places established in 1883