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 ...
Dolores (Spanish for "sorrows" and named for the river on which it is located) is located at the mouth of the Dolores Valley and the upper reaches of McPhee Reservoir, approximately from the
Four Corners Monument
The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the U.S. state, states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to the area ...
. Established as a station on the
Rio Grande Southern Railroad
The Rio Grande Southern Railroad (reporting mark RGS, also referred to as "The Southern") was a 3 ft gauge railways, 3 ft (914 mm) Narrow gauge railways, narrow-gauge railroad which ran in the southwestern region of the United States, US s ...
, it replaced the earlier town, Big Bend, now covered by McPhee Reservoir. McPhee Reservoir is named for a
company town
A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
founded by New Mexico Lumber Company, that is now covered by the reservoir.
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 ...
include:
* Lebanon School, also known as the Lebanon Schoolhouse
* Southern Hotel, also known as Benny's Hogan and the Rio Grande Southern Hotel
Geography
At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of , all of it land.
The town is confined to a narrow valley bottom along the Dolores River near the point where the river turns from flowing southward out of the
San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...
to the north. Built-up areas outside the town limits include extensive residential, commercial, and minor-industrial areas upstream in the valley floor, on Summit Ridge to the south-southwest, and on high ground to the west, at the intersections of Colorado Highways 145 and 184.
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 936 people, 431 households, and 236 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 501 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 90.38%
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 ...
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 ...
, 3.42% from other races, and 3.74% 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 10.90% of the population.
There were 431 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% 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, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.2% were non-families. 39.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $30,417, and the median income for a family was $32,188. Males had a median income of $27,404 versus $19,286 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 $14,912. About 16.6% of families and 17.3% 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 24.1% of those under age 18 and 11.6% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Dolores is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Durango-Grand Junction Outrider line.
See also
*
List of municipalities in Colorado
The U.S. Colorado, State of Colorado has 273 municipal corporation, active municipalities, comprising 198 towns, 73 City, cities, and two Consolidated city-county, consolidated city and county governments. The Denver, City and County of Denver ...