Orchard City, Colorado

For the census-designated place in Morgan County, Colorado, see Orchard, Colorado.

Orchard City, Colorado
Town
Town hall on 2100 Road
Location of Orchard City in Delta County, Colorado.
Coordinates: 38°47′59″N107°58′56″W / 38.79972°N 107.98222°W / 38.79972; -107.98222
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County [1]	Delta
Incorporated (town)	May 25, 1912 [2]
Government
• Type	Statutory Town [1]
Area [3]
• Total	11.53 sq mi (29.86 km2)
• Land	11.52 sq mi (29.84 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.02 km2)
Elevation [4]	5,361 ft (1,634 m)
Population  (2020) [5]
• Total	3,142
• Density	270/sq mi (110/km2)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP code [6]	81410
Area code	970
FIPS code	08-55980
GNIS feature ID	2413088 [4]
Website	www.orchardcityco.org

An aerial photo of Orchard City.

Orchard City is a statutory town in Delta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,142 at the 2020 census. ^[5] There are three post offices serving Orchard City: Austin (ZIP code 81410), Cory (ZIP code 81414), Eckert (ZIP code 81418).

Geography

Orchard City is located in central Delta County at 38°48′59″N107°58′37″W / 38.81639°N 107.97694°W / 38.81639; -107.97694 (38.816360, -107.976951). ^[7] Colorado State Highway 65 passes through the town, leading southwest 9 miles (14 km) to Delta, the county seat, and northeast 6 miles (10 km) to the town of Cedaredge. Eckert is in the northern part of the town, and Cory is in the southwest, both along Highway 65. Austin is in the southeast corner of the town, on the north side of Colorado State Highway 92, which leads west 7 miles (11 km) to Delta and east 13 miles (21 km) to Hotchkiss.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Orchard City has a total area of 11.4 square miles (29.6 km²), of which 0.01 square miles (0.02 km²), or 0.06%, is water. ^[8]

History

In the early 20th century, because residents in the area were getting sick from drinking ditch water, three small communities (Austin, Cory, and Eckert) agreed to consolidate in order to be able to raise enough money to build a water pipeline. Thus Orchard City was incorporated in 1912, but even to this day it's more common for people to refer to one of the three specific communities within the boundaries of Orchard City. ^[9] The community was named for an orchard near the original town site. ^[10]

Government and politics

Mayors of the Town of Orchard City

The Honorable	Term start	Term end	Term(s)
Jim Erickson
Tom Huerkamp	April 2004	April 2008	1
Don Suppes	April 2008	April 2016	2
Ken Volgamore	April 2016	incumbent	current

The Town of Orchard City is governed by a council of six elected at-large trustees and an independently elected mayor. Together, the mayor and trustees, form the government of the Town of Orchard City. The Board of Trustees typically meets twice a month for a work session and meeting.

In 1912, the first election saw George Williamson elected mayor, and the trustees were J.P. Kettle, George Weyrauch, E.E. White, William Start, E.J. Coffey, and Charles Dixon. The first Town Clerk was Ernest Sudgen. ^[11]

In 1993, the Town of Orchard City and the Field of Dreams build a baseball park with the help of Colorado Great Outdoors Funds. By 2000, controversy over finances and maintenance resulted in the town developing an enterprise fund to directly manage the park. ^[12]

In 2004, the ACE Citizens Committee, which included E.J. Verdahl, Jack Chaffee, and Robert Denton, was successful in a petition drive that led to the recall of Orchard City Trustee Katie Benson Schuster Sickles. ^[13]

Prior to the recall election of April 2004, the Colorado District Court heard oral arguments in the case of Burgess v. Town of Orchard City, which examined whether David Burgess, candidate running against Trustee Schuster, satisfied the residential requirements in order to run. Trustee Schuster alleged that Burgess should not be certified to run, because he did not live in the town. Town Clerk Gio Garver refused to certify Burgess' petition because the town was not 100% certain where he lived. Burgess was remodelling his home and lived in a temporary trailer outside the town limits. The court held that Colorado Revised Statute 31-10-301 and the case of Theobald v. Byrns in which the Colorado Supreme Court interpreted domicile as being left up to the individual to choose which address they would make as their domicile, thus Mr. Burgess’ voter registration could be used to help determine domicile. David Burgess was defeated in his re-election bid in April 2006. ^[14]

On Dec. 12, 2006, Mayor Tom Huerkamp survived a special recall election in which Guy Cooper challenged the incumbent. Under the Huerkamp Administration, the town built a $1.3 million town hall, ended a Prohibition Era ban on the sale of alcohol in town, and renamed most of the town's roads, along with removing highway signs referencing the unincorporated communities of Cory, Eckert and Austin. During the mid-2000s, Orchard City's board of trustees meetings were emotional events that packed dozens of citizens into the gallery and typically ended with sheriff's deputies separating Huerkamp loyalists from detractors. ^[15] In April 2008, Mayor Huerkamp lost his re-election bid to then-trustee, Don Suppes.

In 2012, Trustee Matt Soper, at age 27, was elected the youngest trustee in the town's 100-year history. ^{[16] [17] [18]}

On April 6, 2016, Trustee Ken Volgamore, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Trustee Soper, was elected mayor of Orchard City, defeating long time trustee, Jan Gage, 58% to 42%. The current Board of Trustees consists of Craig Fuller, Dick Kirkpatrick, Gynee Thomassen, Thomas H. Huerkamp (former mayor), Bob Eckels, and a vacancy created with the election of Trustee Volgamore to serve as mayor. ^[19]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1920	531		—
1940	865		—
1950	956		10.5%
1960	1,021		6.8%
1970	1,163		13.9%
1980	1,914		64.6%
1990	2,218		15.9%
2000	2,880		29.8%
2010	3,119		8.3%
2020	3,142		0.7%

See also

• Colorado portal

• Colorado municipalities
• Delta County, Colorado

References

1. "Active Colorado Municipalities". State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
2. "Colorado Municipal Incorporations". State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. December 1, 2004. Retrieved September 2, 2007.
3. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
4. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Orchard City, Colorado
5. United States Census Bureau. "Orchard City town, Colorado" . Retrieved April 7, 2023.
6. "ZIP Code Lookup". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original (JavaScript/HTML) on January 1, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2007.
7. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
8. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Orchard City town, Colorado". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved October 15, 2015.^{[ dead link ]}
9. "History of Orchard City". Town of Orchard City website. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
10. Dawson, John Frank. Place names in Colorado: why 700 communities were so named, 150 of Spanish or Indian origin. Denver, CO: The J. Frank Dawson Publishing Co. p. 38.
11. Benson, Preston (2009). "History of Orchard City". Town of Orchard City. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
12. Lofholm, Nancy (November 24, 2000). "Wrangling over W. Slope sports complex ends". The Denver Post. The Denver Post. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
13. "Recall attempt prompts backlash". The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, CO). May 29, 2006. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
14. Harmon, Gary (July 3, 2006). "Orchard City Going to the Dogs". The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, CO). Retrieved April 3, 2016.
15. Lofholm, Nancy (December 5, 2006). "Rancor incites Orchard recall". The Denver Post. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
16. M. Wiggins (April 25, 2012). "Palisade trustees youngest to serve in decades". Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
17. "'Soper Youngest Orchard City Trustee Ever'" (PDF). Montrose, Colo.: Montrose Mirror. April 17, 2012. 9. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
18. "'Austin City Limits' GeoCaching". GeoCaching. February 8, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
19. "2016 Delta County Municipal Election Results". Delta County Clerk & Recorder's Office. Election Department. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2016.

External links

• Media related to Orchard City, Colorado at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• The Delta County Independent, the local community weekly covering Orchard City and the rest of Delta County
• CDOT map of the Town of Orchard City