Delta is a home rule municipality that is 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 ...

and the most populous municipality of Delta 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. The town population was 9,035 at the 2020 United States census. The

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

headquarters of the Grand Mesa, Gunnison, and Uncompahgre National Forests are located in Delta.

History

Delta was built as a trading post for the

Ute people Ute () are an Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin, Indigenous people of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau in present-day Utah, western Colorado, and northern New Mexico.Pritkzer''A Native American Encyclopedia'' p. 242 Historically, their t ...

and early settlers. Fort Uncompahgre was built in 1828. The town was named because of its location on the

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

where the Uncompahgre River flows into the

Gunnison River The Gunnison River is located in western Colorado, United States and is one of the largest tributaries of the Colorado River. Description The river flows east to west and has a drainage area of according to the USGS. The drainage basin of the ...

. The town was incorporated in 1882.

Geography

Delta is located in southwestern Delta County. The downtown area is situated south of the Gunnison River and east of the Uncompahgre River. The city limits extend north across the Gunnison into the area now known as "North Delta", then west along

U.S. Route 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 ...

as far as Westwinds Airport. At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of including of water. Delta is part of the Colorado Western Slope region.

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 2010, there were 8,915 people, 3,530 households, and 2,337 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 3,825 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.2%

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 ...

, 0.2%

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 ...

, 1.1% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 12.5% from other races, and 3.1% 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 26.1% of the population. There were 3,530 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% 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, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49, and the average family size was 3.08. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.

Art and culture

Fort Uncompahgre was built in 1828, established as a fur trading post by Antoine Robidoux. Tour guides dress in period attire and trap beavers, make buckskins, knap

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

s, and work the

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the ...

Tourism

Parks: * Pow Wow Arbor * Mountain View Pavilion * Riley Pavilion / Cleland Park * Shade Pavilion Island * Cottonwood Park * Emerald Hills Park * From the city, one can see the Grand Mesa Mountain range. It is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world.

Media

The principal newspaper is the ''Delta County Independent'', which is published weekly on Wednesdays. Local readers also enjoy ''The High Country Shopper'', a free paper that distributes over 15,000 copies throughout the county. They also have a Facebook page that anyone could follow.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Montrose Regional Airport, located south of Delta, is the closest airport served by scheduled airlines. In Grand Junction, which is to the north, there are also scheduled airline services, as well as an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

train station with a daily ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...

'' departure in each direction. Delta is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Durango-Grand Junction Outrider line.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 50 runs east-west, crossing 12 states and linking

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, with

Ocean City, Maryland Ocean City, officially the Town of Ocean City, is an Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic resort city in Worcester County, Maryland, Worcester County, Maryland, along the East Coast of the United States. The population was 6,844 at the 2020 United States c ...

. In

, it passes through Delta as Main Street and connects the city to Montrose, Grand Junction and

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

. * State Highway 65 is a stretch that runs north from State Highway 92 east of Delta, over the Grand Mesa, to

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

near

Palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

. * State Highway 92 begins in Delta, at the intersection of Main Street and First Street. It runs to the east, re-encountering US 50 near Blue Mesa Reservoir and Curecanti National Recreation Area.

Health care

Delta County Memorial Hospital serves the city and the surrounding area. In addition to the main hospital, seven specialty clinics are available. In April 2021 a COVID-19 outbreak occurred among the Delta Police Department. This incident happened four months after COVID-19 vaccinations became available to all first responders in Colorado free of charge.

Education

Delta is part of the Delta County School District, which also includes Cedaredge, Crawford, Hotchkiss, and Paonia. The school district serves 4,792 students as of the 2020-2021 academic year. Delta is also home to Technical College of the Rockies, a small trade school serving roughly 300 students annually.

Notable people

* Chuck Cottier, baseball player and manager * Dale Ishimoto, American actor * Frank H. Ono,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipient * Matt Soper, Colorado Representative, House District 54 * Felix L. Sparks, Colorado Supreme Court justice, U.S. Army colonel

References

External links

City of Delta websiteCDOT map of the City of DeltaDelta Area Chamber of Commerce''Delta County Independent''
{{Authority control Cities in Delta County, Colorado County seats in Colorado Colorado Western Slope Gunnison River Cities in Colorado