Creede is a

Statutory Town In India, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), also called municipalities, are self-government institutions responsible for the administration of cities, towns, and transitional areas within a state or Union Territory. The 74th amendment to the Const ...

and 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 ...

of Mineral 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. It is the most populous community and the only

incorporated municipality Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally owned c ...

within the county. The town population was 257 at the 2020 United States census.

History

Travelers to this area appeared in the early 19th century. Tom Boggs, a brother-in-law of

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent and United States Army, U.S. Army officer. He became an American frontier legend in his own lifetime ...

, farmed at Wagon Wheel Gap in the summer of 1840. In 1869, the first silver discovery was made at the Alpha mine, but the silver could not be extracted at a profit from the complex ores. Ranchers and homesteaders moved in when stagecoach stations (linking the mining operations over the Divide with the east) were built in the 1870s. However, the great "Boom Days" started with the discovery of rich minerals in Willow Creek Canyon in 1889. Creede was originally located on East Willow Creek just above its junction with West Willow Creek, however, it was originally named Willow. The post office opened on May 12, 1891, and it was renamed Creede on July 1, 1891, after Nicholas C. Creede who discovered the Holy Moses Mine. Below Creede were Stringtown, Jimtown, and Amethyst. The Amethyst, Colorado, post office opened on January 25, 1892. The Town of Creede was incorporated on May 19, 1892. Soon the entire area from East Willow to Amethyst was called Creede. The Creede, Colorado, post office moved to North Creede on November 28, 1908, where it remained open until April 15, 1919. The Amethyst, Colorado, post office closed on February 2, 1909, but reopened as the new Creede, Colorado, post office on February 9, 1909. In the 19th century, Creede was the last silver boom town in Colorado. It leapt from a population of 600 in 1889 to more than 10,000 in December 1891. The Creede mines operated continuously from 1890 until 1985, and were served by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. While Creede was booming, the capital city of

Denver, Colorado 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 ...

was experiencing a reform movement against gambling clubs and saloons. Numerous owners of gambling houses in Denver relocated to Creede's business district. One of these was confidence man Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith. Soapy became the uncrowned king of Creede's criminal underworld, and opened the Orleans Club. Other famous people in Creede were Robert Ford (the man who killed outlaw

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...

, and William Sidney "Cap" Light (the first deputy sheriff in Creede, and brother-in-law of Soapy Smith). On June 5, 1892, a fire destroyed most of the business district. Three days later, on June 8, Ed O'Kelley walked into Robert Ford's makeshift tent-saloon and shot him dead. The town of Creede was incorporated on June 13, 1892. The anti-gambling movement in Denver had ceased, and the Denver businessmen moved back to their former areas of operation. Creede's boom lasted until 1893, when the Silver Panic hit the silver mining towns in Colorado. The price of silver plummeted, and most of the silver mines were closed. Creede never became a ghost town, although the boom was over and its population declined. After 1900, Creede stayed alive by relying increasingly on lead and zinc in the ores. Total production through 1966 was of

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

, of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, 112 thousand

metric ton The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the sh ...

s of

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

, 34 thousand metric tons of zinc, and 2 million metric tons of copper.

Geography

Creede is located near the headwaters of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

, which flows through the San Juan Mountains and the San Luis Valley on its way to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and eventually into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. The river has played a critical role in the development of farming and ranching in the Valley. The Rio Grande and its tributary trout streams provide excellent opportunities for fly fishermen and its unspoiled headwaters in the Weminuche Wilderness are a favorite for hikers. At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of , all of it land.

Climate

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 377 people, 181 households, and 106 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 275 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.82%

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 ...

, 1.33% Native American, and 1.86% 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 1.59% of the population. There were 181 households, out of which 19.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% 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, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.70. In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.1% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 33.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $30,893, and the median income for a family was $34,125. Males had a median income of $27,250 versus $17,250 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 $21,801. About 12.2% of families and 13.4% 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 31.0% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

The Creede Fork, also known as the World's Largest Fork, is a 40-foot aluminum sculpture and

roadside attraction A roadside attraction is a feature along the side of a road meant to attract tourists. In general, these are places one might stop on the way to somewhere, rather than being a destination. They are frequently advertised with billboard (advertis ...

in Creede built in 2012. It is the largest fork in the United States, beating out the 35-foot-long () fork in Missouri that previously held the record. Created by artists Chev and Ted Yund, the fork is made of aluminum and weighs over . In January 2018, it was named by

The Daily Meal The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. Launched in October 2010, it was the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group, founded by former Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller. In 2016, The Daily Meal, along with Spanfeller Media Group, was ac ...

as the weirdest tourist attraction in Colorado. The fork was commissioned by Keith Siddel as a birthday present for his wife, Denise Dutwiler. Siddel hired two local artists, Chev and Ted Yund, to create the structure. The fork was designed specifically to out-measure the Giant Fork in Springfield, Missouri, which previously held the record of being the longest fork in the United States at a length of 35 feet. RuthNight JGB

The Creede Repertory Theatre was founded in 1966 by twelve University of Kansas students who answered the call from the Creede Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees). It has since grown to a fully professional theatre company with an operating budget of over $1.5 million. Its annual production schedule includes a variety of plays, musicals, and new work, as well as musical events and concerts. Creede Rep is a true rotating repertory company which means that a visitor to the area can see up to five different shows in one weekend. In addition to these performances, the theatre offers a program for the development of new works, as well as nationally recognized and robust educational programming. Creede Repertory Theatre has received many nominations fort its work by the Colorado Theatre Guild's Henry Awards including Best New Play, Best Scenic Design, and numerous nominations for individual performances. Creede Repertory Theatre performs in two spaces, its historic Mainstage Theatre (originally a movie house in the 1930s) and the a more modern, flexible space that opened in 2011, the Ruth Humphreys Brown Theatre (The Ruth). Audiences can see shows and events in both spaces during the summer season and in The Ruth in October–April.

In popular culture

Poet and journalist Cy Warman wrote two poems about Creede, ''Creede'' and ''The Rise and Fall of Creede.''

References

External links

Town of CreedeState of Colorado

CDOT map of the Town of Creede

History Colorado
{{authority control Towns in Mineral County, Colorado County seats in Colorado Mining communities in Colorado San Juan Mountains (Colorado) Towns in Colorado 1892 establishments in Colorado Roadside attractions in Colorado