Florence is a statutory city in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 3,822 at the 2020 United States census. Florence is a part of the Cañon City, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. The city lies along the Arkansas River in eastern Fremont County. It is near Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, a major U.S.

federal prison A federal prison is operated under the jurisdiction of a federal government as opposed to a state or provincial body. Federal prisons are used for people who violated federal law (U.S., Mexico), people considered dangerous (Brazil), or those sen ...

complex that includes the only remaining supermax prison in the country, ADX Florence.

History

Florence was built as a transportation center, with three railroads including a small railroad depot for the trains that hauled coal from the neighboring towns of Rockvale and Coal Creek. After a small oil was discovered north of Canon City at Oil Spring, commercial quantity oil was discovered in Florence in 1862, Florence became the first significant oil center west of the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. In the early 1880s the town grew rapidly. The city was named after Florence, the daughter of local settler James McCandless. The town was incorporated in 1887. The Downtown Florence Historic District was 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 ...

in 2017.

Geography

Florence is in eastern Fremont County, on the south side of the Arkansas River. It is bordered to the west by the town of Williamsburg, and the town of Coal Creek is to the southwest. Colorado State Highway 115 runs northwest to Cañon City and northeast to Penrose, intersecting

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 ...

in each direction. Colorado State Highway 67 leads north to US 50 and south to Wetmore. Pueblo is to the east via CO 115 and US 50. At the 2020 United States census, the town had a total area of including of water. Florence sits in the semi-arid high desert lands of southern Colorado.

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 3,653 people, 1,488 households, and 973 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,622 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.77%

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 ...

, 0.30%

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 ...

, 1.23% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 2.63% from other races, and 2.76% 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 15.66% of the population. There were 1,488 households, out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4% 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, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.03. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,628, and the median income for a family was $39,276. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $22,042 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 city was $14,969. About 12.5% of families and 17.6% 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 23.0% of those under age 18 and 11.3% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, including USP Florence ADMAX, the only federal supermax prison in the United States, is located near Florence in unincorporated Fremont County.

Education

Fremont RE-2 School District operates public schools, including Penrose Elementary School, Florence Elementary School and Florence Junior/Senior High School.

Notable person

* Thyra Thomson, Wyoming Secretary of State

References

External links

City of Florence websiteCDOT map of the City of FlorenceFlorence Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Fremont County, Colorado Cities in Colorado Colorado populated places on the Arkansas River 1887 establishments in Colorado