Bailey is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

in northeastern Park 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. Bailey's

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

ZIP Code is 80421. The town community consists of several small businesses, restaurants and churches. The

North Fork South Platte River The North Fork South Platte River is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately 50 miles (80 km) long, in central Colorado in the United States. The river is located near the headwaters of the South Platte in the Rocky Mountains s ...

flows through Bailey.

History

William Bailey settled a ranch and built a stage station known as Bailey's Ranch in 1864. Bailey also built a hotel at the station, and the town eventually became known as Bailey. The Denver & South Park Railroad reached Bailey in 1878, and the Bailey Post Office opened on November 20, 1878. On March 18, 2006, the Coney Island Hot Dog Stand, a landmark building shaped like a giant hot dog was moved from Aspen Park to Bailey. On September 27, 2006, a hostage crisis occurred after a lone gunman took seven female students hostage at a classroom in Platte Canyon High School and sexually assaulted them before opening fire after a

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

team breached the room. One hostage was killed, while the remaining escaped uninjured. The hostage-taker then committed suicide after being shot by police. On February 24, 2016, three Park County Sheriffs were shot, one fatally. The officers were serving an eviction to a known disgruntled man in a house. The rustic Glen-Isle Resort in Bailey, as well as the Estabrook Historic District northeast of Bailey, are both listed on 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 ...

Geography

Bailey is located in the mountains of Park County CO, approximately 30 miles (48 km) southwest of

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 ...

along U.S. Highway 285. It is located on the east side of

Kenosha Pass Kenosha Pass, elevation , is a high mountain pass located in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado in the United States. The pass is located in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Denver, Colorado, just northeast of the town of Fairplay, Color ...

and is one of the largest communities in the Platte Canyon region.

Climate

Bailey has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

( Dfb) with cold winters and warm summers.

Arts and culture

Bailey Day street festival is an annual summer event in the city, featuring bands, vendors and family activities. The Bailey HUNDO is a 100-mile endurance mountain bike race that begins and ends in Bailey. It has been an annual event since 2009, and money raised is invested in the construction of new bike trails and in youth biking initiatives in Colorado. Both the Buffalo Creek Trail System and the

Colorado Trail The Colorado Trail is a long-distance trail running for from the mouth of Waterton Canyon southwest of Denver to Durango in Colorado, United States. Its highest point is above sea level, and most of the trail is above . Despite its high elev ...

are easily accessible from Bailey. Tomahawk Ranch, a residential camp operated by the Girl Scouts of Colorado, is located near Bailey. In 2004, Bailey was the location for Apogaea, an annual outdoor arts and music festival.

Education

Bailey is served by the Platte Canyon School District #1. Platte Canyon High School has approximately 300 students. In sports, they are a 3A school in the Frontier League. The Girls' Cross Country Team was the Colorado State 3A Champion in 1986, and the Girls' Track Team was the Colorado State 3A Champion in 1996 and in 2005, and the Boys' Track Team was the Colorado 3A State Champion in 2008. The Speech and Debate team holds the record for the most individual State Champions at the Festival Level.

Notable people

* Erwin Jay Boydston, recipient of the Medal of Honor, America's highest military award. *

Hal Hickel Hal T. Hickel is a visual effects animator for Industrial Light & Magic. At the age of 12, Hickel wrote a letter to Lucasfilm, outlining his ideas for a sequel to the original ''Star Wars'' movie (now known as ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars Episo ...

, Academy Award winning visual effects animator.

References

External links

Platte Canyon Area Chamber of CommerceState of Colorado

History Colorado
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Park County, Colorado Unincorporated communities in Colorado Denver metropolitan area