Penrose, Colorado
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Penrose is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) and
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
located in and governed by Fremont 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 CDP is a part of the
Cañon City, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...
. The Penrose post office has the ZIP Code 81240. At the United States Census 2020, the population of the Penrose CDP was 3,685.


History

Settlers followed the Pike's Peak gold rush (July 1858 and lasted until the creation of the Territory of Colorado on February 28, 1861). Farmers were incentivized by the
Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of Federal lands, government land or the American frontier, public domain, typically called a Homestead (buildings), homestead. In all, mo ...
to come to the area. A stage coach stop was established along Beaver Creek, which was known as the Beaver Creek settlement initially, with a post office there by 1868. Then, the settlement became known as Glendale. It had a stagecoach stop and hotel named Glendale Inn Stage Coach Stop as well as other names. A school was established there in 1868 and operated until 1912, when a school was established in Penrose. It is east or the eastern part of present-day Penrose. The community was named after Spencer Penrose. Penrose gained national media attention after a local funeral home, the Return to Nature Funeral Home, was raided by the Fremont County Sheriff's Office in October 2023 due to complaints of a foul smell emanating from the area. The raid revealed 189 improperly-stored dead bodies. The FBI is currently helping with the investigation. In October 2024, the Funeral Home owners, Jon and Carie Hallford, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for misusing relief money. They are also facing charges in state court for abusing corpses, money laundering, theft and forgery. In November 2024, the Hallford's pleaded guilty in state court to multiple counts of abusing corpses. They are slated to be sentenced the following year for both cases against them. In March 2025, Carie Hallford withdrew her guilty plea in federal court and is now facing trial.


Geography

The Penrose CDP has an area of , all land.


Demographics

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 ...
initially defined the for the 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 3,582 people, 1,454 households, and 1,044 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,575 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.7%
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 ...
, 1.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 2.3% 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 8.7% of the population. There were 1,454 households, out of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.4% 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 28.2% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.86. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 19, 3.9% from 20 to 24, 20.1% from 25 to 44, 35.9% from 45 to 64, and 17% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years, jumping up from 39 years in the 2000 census. For every 100 females, there were 102.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.8 males. According to the American Community Survey (2008–2012), the median income for a household in the CDP was $47,951, up from $35,638 in the 2000 Census, and the median income for a family was $54,693. Males had a median income of $49,125 versus $35,093 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 CDP was $22,774. About 14.5% of families and 16.8% 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 29.7% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.


Transportation

Penrose is located just north of the intersection of US 50 and SH 115; 115 runs north to become Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs. Penrose lies between
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 ...
, to the southeast, and Cañon City, to the west, on US 50. Rail service existed briefly before World War I. The Fremont County Airport (1V6), usually called the Cañon City airport, actually has a Penrose address. Penrose is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Alamosa-Pueblo Outrider line.


Major highways

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Economics

Many residents commute to work in Colorado Springs, or at the prisons of Florence or Cañon City, or at
Holcim Holcim is a Swiss-based global building materials and Construction aggregate, aggregates flagship division of the Holcim Group. The original company was merged on 10 July 2015 with Lafarge (company), Lafarge to form LafargeHolcim as the new c ...
in Portland, southeast of town. Penrose has a single traffic light, a volunteer-run fire station, a trucking company, a gas station, a
Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...
hall, an elementary school (graduates attend high school in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
), a doctor's office, a post office, a library, a small grocery store, the Estes Industries model rocket factory, three small restaurants, and several other businesses.


Education

Fremont RE-2 School District operates Penrose Elementary School. It also operates a 7–12 school in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
: Florence Junior/Senior High School.


See also

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List of census-designated places in Colorado The United States, U.S. has 210 census-designated places. The United States Census Bureau defines certain Unincorporated area, unincorporated communities as census-designated places (CDPs) for enumeration in each United States census, decennial ...


References


External links


Penrose @ Colorado.com

Penrose @ UncoverColorado.com

Penrose Chamber of Commerce
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Penrose history

Fremont County website
{{authority control Census-designated places in Fremont County, Colorado Census-designated places in Colorado