Rico, Colorado

Rico, Colorado
Town
Rico Town Hall, listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Motto:  "A Slice of Paradise"
Location of Rico in Dolores County, Colorado.
Coordinates: 37°41′32″N108°1′51″W / 37.69222°N 108.03083°W / 37.69222; -108.03083
Country	United States
State	State of Colorado
County [1]	Dolores County
Incorporated (town)	February 25, 1880 [2]
Government
• Type	Home rule municipality [1]
•  Mayor	Nicole Pieterse [3]
Area [4]
• Total	0.68 sq mi (1.76 km2)
• Land	0.68 sq mi (1.76 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation [5]	8,825 ft (2,690 m)
Population  (2020) [6]
• Total	288
• Density	420/sq mi (160/km2)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain (MST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP code [7]	81332
Area code	970
FIPS code	08-64090
GNIS feature ID	0204670
Website	ricocolorado.gov

Rico is a town in Dolores County, Colorado, United States. It was settled in 1879 as a silver mining center in the Pioneer Mining District; today it functions as a historic and tourism site. The population was 288 at the 2020 census. ^[6] Its current form of government is that of a home rule municipality.

Rico is a name derived from Spanish meaning "rich". ^[8]

Geography

Rico is located in eastern Dolores County at 37°41′32″N108°1′51″W / 37.69222°N 108.03083°W / 37.69222; -108.03083 (37.692095, -108.030839), ^[9] in the valley of the Dolores River. Colorado State Highway 145 passes through the town as it follows the river, leading southwest 48 miles (77 km) to Cortez and northeast over Lizard Head Pass 27 miles (43 km) to Telluride.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town of Rico has an area of 0.8 square miles (2.0 km²), all of it land. ^[10]

Climate

Rico experiences an alpine subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc) with long, cold, very snowy winters and short, cool summers due to the high altitude and high precipitation year-round due to orographic lift.^{[ citation needed ]}

Climate data for RICO, COLORADO
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °F (°C)	38.2 (3.4)	39.9 (4.4)	43.4 (6.3)	50.5 (10.3)	60.7 (15.9)	70.6 (21.4)	75.4 (24.1)	73.2 (22.9)	66.6 (19.2)	58.2 (14.6)	45.8 (7.7)	39.5 (4.2)	55.2 (12.9)
Average low °F (°C)	5.2 (−14.9)	7.6 (−13.6)	13.4 (−10.3)	20.9 (−6.2)	28.2 (−2.1)	33.7 (0.9)	40.3 (4.6)	39.6 (4.2)	32.7 (0.4)	24.8 (−4.0)	14.8 (−9.6)	7.2 (−13.8)	22.4 (−5.4)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	2.48 (63)	2.15 (55)	2.44 (62)	1.81 (46)	1.65 (42)	1.31 (33)	2.78 (71)	2.91 (74)	2.31 (59)	2.13 (54)	2.01 (51)	2.27 (58)	26.27 (667)
Average snowfall inches (cm)	32.1 (82)	26.5 (67)	30.8 (78)	18.5 (47)	6.0 (15)	0.1 (0.25)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.5 (1.3)	7.6 (19)	21.5 (55)	26.2 (67)	171 (430)
Source: The Western Regional Climate Center [11]

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	894		—
1890	1,134		26.8%
1900	811		−28.5%
1910	368		−54.6%
1920	326		−11.4%
1930	447		37.1%
1940	388		−13.2%
1950	212		−45.4%
1960	353		66.5%
1970	275		−22.1%
1980	76		−72.4%
1990	92		21.1%
2000	205		122.8%
2010	265		29.3%
2020	288		8.7%

Dey Building, built in 1892 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Transportation

Rico is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Durango-Grand Junction Outrider line. ^[12]

See also

• Geography portal
• North America portal
• United States portal
• Colorado portal
• Mountains portal

• Outline of Colorado
  • Index of Colorado-related articles
• State of Colorado
  • Colorado cities and towns
    • Colorado municipalities
  • Colorado counties
    • Dolores County, Colorado
• San Juan Mountains
• San Juan Skyway

References

1. "Active Colorado Municipalities". State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs. Archived from the original on February 2, 2007. 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. "Town Hall". Rico Colorado. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
4. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
5. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
6. United States Census Bureau. "Rico town, Colorado" . Retrieved April 5, 2023.
7. "ZIP Code Lookup". United States Postal Service. Archived from the original (JavaScript/HTML) on December 14, 2006. Retrieved December 24, 2007.
8. 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. 43.
9. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
10. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Rico town, Colorado". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Retrieved October 15, 2015.^{[ dead link ]}
11. "RICO, COLORADO (057017)" . Retrieved December 18, 2015.
12. "Bustang Schedule". RideBustang. CDOT.

External links

• Town of Rico official website
• CDOT map of the Town of Rico
• Marty Durlin, "A Rico Renaissance", High Country News, February 18, 2008