Pagosa Springs, Colorado
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Pagosa Springs (
Ute language Ute ( )Givón, T. ''Ute Reference Grammar''. John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2011 is a dialect of the Colorado River Numic language, spoken by the Ute people. Speakers primarily live on three reservations: Uintah-Ouray (or Northern Ute) in ...
: Pagwöösa,
Navajo language Navajo or Navaho ( ; Navajo: or ) is a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan language of the Na-Dene languages, Na-Dené family, through which it is related to languages spoken across the western areas of North America. Navajo i ...
: Tó Sido Háálį́) is a
home rule municipality Statutory city may refer to: * Statutory city (Austria), an Austrian municipality acting as a district administrative authority * Statutory city (Czech Republic), a Czech city with special privileges * Statutory city (United States), a city in the ...
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 ...
, 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 ...
in
Archuleta County Archuleta County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13,359. The county seat and the only Colorado municipalities, incorporated municipality in the county is P ...
,
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. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,571.


History

The town is named for a system of sulfur springs, Pagosa hot springs, located there, which includes the world's deepest geothermal
hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...
. The "Mother" spring feeds primitive and developed hot springs located on the upper banks of the San Juan River, which flows through town. The primitive springs are freely accessible to the public, but are generally not for entering or interacting with because of the extreme water temperature. Developed springs feed soaking pools that are hosted by three privately owned soaking locations within town. The water from the "Mother" spring is approximately . Local indigenous people used the hot springs for centuries; the area was considered "sacred ground". In Navajo cosmology, Pagosa Springs is the place where the People (Diné) emerged from their Fourth World underground to the Fifth World, this one, as Aileen O'Bryan records in ''The Dîné: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians''. In 1859, a white settler "discovered" the springs and developed them. In 1881, a bathhouse was first built there for paying customers. 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 ...
called the sulfur-rich mineral springs ', which is commonly translated in modern documents as "healing waters"; however according to Bill Hudson writing for the ''Pagosa Daily Post'', a Ute elder once translated the phrase as "water () that has a bad smell ()" whereas the Archuleta County government states that "pagosa" is a Ute word meaning "healing or "boiling water." After the Civil War, the United States government considered building a convalescent hospital in Pagosa Springs. However, the hospital project was cancelled, and the lands platted by the U.S. Army were sold to private parties who capitalized on the thermal mineral springs. Along the banks of the San Juan river, simple wooden bathhouses were constructed. In the late 1880s, Dr. Mary Winter Fisher ventured west from Chicago to found a medical and healing practice in Pagosa Springs. The medical center in the town is named after her. In the 1930s, Cora Woods built a geothermal swimming pool and several small cabins on the Northeast corner of land she purchased from Bill Lynn, a local entrepreneur. There were a total of 23 cabins with no electricity, dirt floors, wood stoves, and oak iceboxes. In the 1950s, the Giordano family purchased the property from Cora Woods. The Giordanos were European coal miners who had settled in the
Walsenburg, Colorado Walsenburg is the Colorado municipalities#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat of and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality in Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano County, Colorado, United States. ...
area. They dug additional geothermal wells, and built an enclosed bathhouse next to the thermal water swimming pool. In the 1980s, Pagosa Springs received federal funding from the Department of Energy to drill two geothermal wells to heat buildings in the small downtown area of town. In the 1990s, the town built a new pipeline and municipal bridge to deliver mineral springs water to a new resort.


1911 flood

On October 5, 1911, a flood occurred in Archuleta County, destroying the town's water supply pipeline and all the bridges throughout the county, including the bridges across the San Juan River. A cable was installed across the river providing residents a way to cross, and also to distribute food to those stranded by the flood. Many structures were damaged or destroyed including the electric plant. Train service as well as mail delivery halted in Pagosa Springs due to the train tracks being washed out.


Geography

Pagosa Springs is located east of
Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...
. The San Juan River flows through the middle of town. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.53%, is water. The area around Pagosa Springs has numerous large waterfalls, including Treasure Falls to the east of town off of Hwy 160 just past the Wolf Creek Pass summit. Approximately 65 percent of the land in Archuleta County is either
San Juan National Forest The San Juan National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering over 1,878,846 acres (2,935.7 sq mi, or 7,603.42 km²) in western Colorado. The forest occupies land in Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezum ...

Weminuche
an

wilderness areas, or Southern Ute Indian reservation land. Pagosa Springs is located approximately north of the
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 ...
border, at above sea level on the Western Slope of the
Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
. This combination of high desert plateau and the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...
to the north and east creates an unusually mild climate, especially in the summer months. Pagosa sees around 300 days of sun each year, as well as four distinct seasons. The town is located in the upper
San Juan Basin The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin located near the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. The basin covers 7,500 square miles and resides in northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and parts of Utah a ...
, surrounded by the San Juan National Forest, and adjacent to the largest wilderness area in the state of Colorado, the Weminuche Wilderness.


Climate


Demographics

As of the 2000
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 ...
, there were 1,591 people, 633 households, and 415 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 746 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 74.61%
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 ...
, 0.50%
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 ...
, 2.20% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 18.73% from other races, and 3.71% 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 43.18% of the population. There were 633 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% 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, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.07. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males. The median income for a household in the town was $29,469, and the median income for a family was $33,831. Males had a median income of $24,125 versus $21,406 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 $15,355. About 11.9% of families and 14.1% 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 14.6% of those under age 18 and 21.1% of those age 65 or over.


Education

Archuleta County School District 50-JT operates the community's public schools. Pagosa Springs High School is the comprehensive high school.


Recreation

Other recreational activities in the area include downhill and cross country skiing at nearby Wolf Creek ski area and snowmobiling in the surrounding National Forest. Summertime activities include fishing, hiking, and rafting. The area is also a popular destination for hunters, who harvest elk, deer, and other game animals.


In popular culture

"Downtown Pagosa Springs" was the final destination for a duo of truckers in the 1975
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
song "Wolf Creek Pass" by C. W. McCall. From Wolf Creek pass to town, U.S. Highway 160 goes through a vertical drop of , and is described in the song as "hairpin county and switchback city".


Notable people

*
Dan Fogelberg Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist widely known for his 1970s and 1980s soft rock hits, including " Longer" (1979), " Same Old Lang Syne" (1981), and " ...
, an American singer/songwriter, lived on a working ranch near Pagosa Springs. His recording studio was on the property. * Ursala Hudson (
Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...
), Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver *
Frank Oppenheimer Frank Friedman Oppenheimer (14 August 1912 – 3 February 1985) was an American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, and the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The younger brother o ...
, American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor


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 ...


References


External links


Visit Pagosa Springs
The official website for Pagosa Springs visitor information
Town of Pagosa Springs
The official website for The Town of Pagosa Springs
Pagosa.com
commercial site
Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation
{{Authority control Towns in Archuleta County, Colorado Towns in Colorado County seats in Colorado