Basalt is a home rule town located in

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

and Pitkin

counties 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 ...

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 United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The town population was 3,984 at the 2020 United States census with 2,917 residing in Eagle County and 1,067 residing in Pitkin County. Basalt is a part of the Edwards-Glenwood Springs, CO Combined Statistical Area.

History

Basalt was first named Aspen Junction after the railroad junction which led to present day

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

. Aspen Junction was a territory serving Aspen to Leadville Mining towns, with the Railroad Junction, also going West and South to Carbondale and Glenwood Springs. The Aspen Junction, Colorado, post office opened on February 13, 1890. The town was first served by the Colorado Midland Railroad, but the railroad was later bought by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1901. The Aspen Junction post office was renamed Basalt on June 19, 1895, and the Town of Basalt was incorporated on August 26, 1901. The name was chosen for the basaltic rock formations on Basalt Mountain.

Geography

Basalt is located along State Highway 82, and at the confluence of the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork rivers. At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of including of water.

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 2,681 people, 1,052 households, and 637 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,218 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 91.53%

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 ...

, 0.48%

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 ...

, 0.52% Native American, 1.27% Asian, 0.11%

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 ...

, 4.77% from other races, and 1.31% 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 11.75% of the population. There were 1,052 households, out of which 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% 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, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% were non-families. 24.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.00. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 42.3% from 25 to 44, 24.4% from 45 to 64, and 3.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $67,200, and the median income for a family was $73,375. Males had a median income of $40,791 versus $30,532 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 $30,746. About 4.9% of families and 6.3% 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 5.9% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Tourism

Basalt is well known for its Gold Medal trout fishing in the Frying Pan River. Ruedi Reservoir is also a popular regional destination for boating and other watersports. Basalt is a hub for mountain biking in the Roaring Fork valley. There are a dozen world class cross country trails as well as lift-accessed downhilling within 15 miles of Basalt, both up and down the valley.

Transportation

* Roaring Fork Transportation Authority ( RFTA) provides bus transit in Basalt. * Basalt's public transit system (WE-CYCLE) supplied by PBSC.

Notable people

Wally Dallenbach Jr. Wallace Paul Dallenbach (born May 23, 1963) is an American former racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series, and is known for his prowess as a road racer. In addition to NASCAR, Dallenbach has raced in SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA GT Champion ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver *

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and ...

, musician * Joey Diaz, comedian * Hanna Faulhaber, freestyle skier and Olympian * Ann Korologos, former United States Secretary of Labor * Tom Korologos, former

United States Ambassador to Belgium In 1832, shortly after the creation of the Kingdom of Belgium, the United States established diplomatic relations. Since that time, a long line of distinguished envoys have represented American interests in Belgium. These diplomats included men ...

* Christy Smith, contestant on Survivor: The Amazon * Torin Yater-Wallace, Olympian freestyle skier

References

External links

Town of Basalt

Basalt Chamber of CommerceState of Colorado

History Colorado
{{authority control Towns in Eagle County, Colorado Towns in Pitkin County, Colorado Towns in Colorado Roaring Fork Valley