Toponas is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Routt 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.
Description
The community took its name from nearby Toponas Rock.
The population in 2010 was 48; in 2017 it is estimated at 26, all in ages ranging from 55 years upwards.
As of 2015, the village consists of a large general store with gas pumps, and a few ranch houses and attendant outbuildings. Just west of the village is a
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 ...
, currently serving
ZIP Code 80479,
which has been in operation since 1888.
The community took its name from nearby Toponas Rock.
Geography
Toponas is located at (40.057841,-106.801357). Despite the small size of the town, this is a strategic location, lying in a broad mountain pass on the divide between the
Yampa River to the north and the
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
to the south. As a result, the town is traversed by not only
State Highway 131, but also the former
Craig branch of the
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...
. Toponas also lies at the west end of
State Highway 134 and thus at the bottom of the climb to
Gore Pass, on one of the two highway routes between the Yampa Valley and
Middle Park.
See also
References
External links
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Routt County, Colorado
Unincorporated communities in Colorado