San Miguel County, Colorado

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San Miguel County, Colorado
Map
Location in the state of Colorado
Colorado's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	March 2, 1883
Seat	Telluride
Largest town	Telluride
Area - Total - Land - Water	1,288 sq mi (3,337 km²) 1,286 sq mi (3,332 km²) 2 sq mi (5 km²), 0.15%
Population - (2000) - Density	6,594 4/sq mi (2/km²)
Time zone	Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Website: www.sanmiguelcounty.org
Named for: San Miguel River

San Miguel County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is named for the San Miguel River. The county population was 6,594 at U.S. Census 2000.^[1] The county seat is Telluride.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Adjacent counties
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Cities and towns
5 National historic sites
6 National forest
7 National wilderness areas
8 Bicycle routes
9 Scenic byways
10 See also
11 References
12 External links

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,288 square miles (3,337 km²), of which, 1,286 square miles (3,332 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5 km²) of it (0.15%) is water.

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] History

San Miguel County was given the Spanish language name for "Saint Michael" due to the nearby San Miguel River. On 27 February 1883 Ouray County was split to form San Miguel County. Originally the San Miguel County portion was to retain the name Ouray County with the new portion called Uncompahgre County.

Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area of Colorado formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a direct result of a Western Federation of Miners proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for the eight hour day, which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters.^[2] The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan counties.^[3] The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 6,594 people, 3,015 households, and 1,423 families residing in the county. The population density was 5 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 5,197 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.57% White, 0.29% Black or African American, 0.85% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 3.37% from other races, and 1.11% from two or more races. 6.66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,015 households out of which 22.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.30% were married couples living together, 5.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 52.80% were non-families. 32.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.77.

In the county the population was spread out with 17.60% under the age of 18, 9.90% from 18 to 24, 43.30% from 25 to 44, 25.80% from 45 to 64, and 3.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 120.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 126.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,514, and the median income for a family was $60,417. Males had a median income of $35,922 versus $30,278 for females. The per capita income for the county was $35,329. About 6.60% of families and 10.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.10% of those under age 18 and 8.00% of those age 65 or over.