Town of Marble, Colorado | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 39°4′20″N107°11′22″W / 39.07222°N 107.18944°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Colorado |
County [1] | Gunnison |
Incorporated | 1899 |
Government | |
• Type | Statutory Town [1] |
• State Representative | Marc Catlin |
Area | |
• Total | 0.36 sq mi (0.93 km2) |
• Land | 0.36 sq mi (0.93 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Elevation | 7,993 ft (2,436 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 133 |
• Density | 370/sq mi (140/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
ZIP code [4] | 81623 |
Area code | 970 |
FIPS code | 08-48555 |
GNIS feature ID | 0175531 |
Highways | none |
Website | www |
The Town of Marble is a Statutory Town in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 133 at the 2020 United States Census. [5]
The Town of Marble was first incorporated in 1899. Marble remains a statutory town of the State of Colorado today.
The town is the location of a historic Yule Marble quarry along the mountains that began operations in the late 19th century, and from which the town draws its name. It has been used for the Tomb of the Unknowns, as well as for parts of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and civic buildings in San Francisco. It was also used for the construction of the Equitable Building, a historically important early skyscraper in New York City.
The marble of the quarry is considered to be of exceptional quality, praised as one of the purest marbles ever quarried and a rival to classical Italian and Greek marble. It is nearly pure calcite marble with minor inclusions of mica, quartz, and feldspar, and has irregularly shaped calcite grains ranging from 100 to 600 micrometers in diameter. According to physical tests of the marble, its strength is comparable to marble typically used in building construction. [6]
The quarry has enjoyed a renaissance since its acquisition in 2004 by Polycor, a Canadian-based dimension stone company, and subsequent sale to Italian group R.E.D. Graniti S.p.A. In spite of significant transportation costs, this high-quality stone is now exported in large quantities to Europe and Asia for transformation and use throughout the world, as well as being sold into the US market. [7]
In the late 20th century and the 21st century, Marble has become a summer tourist destination. It is also the gateway to the nearby Crystal townsite. It is the site of the Marble/marble sculpting symposium held every summer since 1988. [8]
Seven sites within Marble have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [9]
Marble is located at 39°4′20″N107°11′22″W / 39.07222°N 107.18944°W (39.072274, -107.189516). [10]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2), all of it land.
The community is located in a valley of the upper Crystal River along the Elk Mountains, accessible by a paved road from State Highway 133. Unlike most of Gunnison County, the town is located on the north side of Schofield Pass which is inaccessible to most cars and thus is separated geographically from the rest of Gunnison County.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1900 | 101 | — | |
1910 | 782 | 674.3% | |
1920 | 81 | −89.6% | |
1930 | 217 | 167.9% | |
1940 | 240 | 10.6% | |
1950 | 8 | −96.7% | |
1960 | 5 | −37.5% | |
1970 | 13 | 160.0% | |
1980 | 30 | 130.8% | |
1990 | 64 | 113.3% | |
2000 | 105 | 64.1% | |
2010 | 131 | 24.8% | |
2020 | 133 | 1.5% |
Marble Charter School (MCS) is a public, tuition-free charter school located in Marble. The school serves K-8 students in the Crystal River Valley. [11]
Ouray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,874. The county seat is Ouray. Because of its rugged mountain topography, Ouray County is also known as the Switzerland of America.
Gunnison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,918. The county seat is Gunnison. The county was named for John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer and captain in the Army Topographical Engineers, who surveyed for the transcontinental railroad in 1853.
Garfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,685. The county seat is Glenwood Springs. The county is named in honor of United States President James A. Garfield. Garfield County is included in the Glenwood Springs, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Edwards-Glenwood Springs, CO Combined Statistical Area.
Delta County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,196. The county seat is Delta.
Salida is the statutory city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The population was 5,666 at the 2020 census.
Paonia is a statutory town in Delta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,447 at the 2020 census.
Crested Butte is a home rule municipality located in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,639 at the 2020 United States Census. The former coal mining town is now called "the last great Colorado ski town". Crested Butte is a destination for skiing, mountain biking, and outdoor activities.
Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States Census. The city was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a United States Army officer who surveyed for a transcontinental railroad in 1853.
Mt. Crested Butte is a home rule municipality in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. Mount Crested Butte is the home of the Crested Butte Mountain Resort. The population was 941 at the 2020 census. ZIP code 81225 serves post office boxes for Mount Crested Butte and for neighboring Crested Butte; mail must be addressed to Crested Butte.
The Crystal River is a tributary of the Roaring Fork River. It is approximately 40 miles (64 km) long and is located in Gunnison, Pitkin and Garfield counties in Colorado, United States.
The Elk Mountains are a high, rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of west-central Colorado in the United States. The mountains sit on the western side of the Continental Divide, largely in southern Pitkin and northern Gunnison counties, in the area southwest of Aspen, south of the Roaring Fork River valley, and east of the Crystal River. The range sits west of the Sawatch Range and northeast of the West Elk Mountains. Much of the range is located within the White River National Forest and the Gunnison National Forest, as well as the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness and Raggeds Wilderness. The Elk Mountains rise nearly 9,000 ft. above the Roaring Fork Valley to the north.
Yule Marble is a marble of metamorphosed Leadville Limestone found only in the Yule Creek Valley, in the West Elk Mountains of Colorado, 2.8 miles (4.5 km) southeast of the town of Marble, Colorado. First discovered in 1873, it is quarried underground at an elevation of 9,300 feet (2,800 m) above sea level—in contrast to most marble, which is quarried from an open pit and at much lower elevations.
Crystal is a ghost town on the upper Crystal River in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. It is located in the Elk Mountains along a four-wheel-drive road 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Marble and 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Crested Butte. Crystal was a mining camp established in 1881 and after several decades of robust existence, was all but abandoned by 1917. The Crystal post office operated from July 28, 1882, until October 31, 1909.Many buildings still stand in Crystal, but its few residents live there only in the summer.
Needle Rock Natural Area is located at the western edge of the West Elk Mountains of Colorado. The surrounding terrain is characterized by laccolithic mountains flanked by precipitous cliffs, extensive talus aprons, forested mesas, canyons, and spacious, well-watered intermontane basins. Needle Rock is an intrusive plug of monzonite porphyry cropping out 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east-northeast of the Town of Crawford in Delta County, Colorado, United States. With an elevation of 7,797 feet (2,377 m), the towering rock spire stands 800 feet (240 m) tall above the floor of the Smith Fork of the Gunnison River valley. The massive rock feature originated in the Oligocene geological epoch when magma intruded between existing sedimentary rocks as the crown of a buried laccolith or possibly the underlying conduit of a laccolith. Subsequent erosion has exposed the prominent rock formation seen in the natural area today.
Treasure Mountain, elevation 13,535 ft (4,125 m), is a summit in the Elk Mountains of western Colorado. The mountain is in the Raggeds Wilderness southeast of Marble. The massif has been the site of marble mining and a legend of lost French gold.
Mount Gunnison is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,725-foot (3,879 m) peak is located in the West Elk Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, 22.2 miles (35.7 km) west by south of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The mountain is named in honor of John Williams Gunnison who explored the area.
Chair Mountain is a prominent mountain summit in the Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,727-foot (3,879 m) peak is located in the Raggeds Wilderness of Gunnison National Forest, 5.0 miles (8.1 km) west by south of the Town of Marble in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.
Mount Guero is a prominent mountain summit in the West Elk Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 12,058-foot (3,675 m) peak is located in the West Elk Wilderness of the Gunnison National Forest, 13 miles (21 km) east of Crawford, Colorado in Delta County and 24.3 miles (39.1 km) west-southwest of the Town of Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States.
Calcite is an extinct town located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. It served as a company coal mining town for Colorado Fuel & Iron. It is located along Howard Creek roughly six miles from the census-designated place of Howard.
The West Elk Loop Scenic and Historic Byway is a 205-mile (330 km) National Forest Scenic Byway and Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway located in Delta, Garfield, Gunnison, Montrose, and Pitkin counties Colorado, USA. The byway reaches its zenith at Kebler Pass, elevation 10,007 feet (3,050 m), between Crested Butte and Paonia.