South Fork, Colorado : Geography, History, Demographics Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

South Fork, Colorado

Town in Colorado, United States

37°40′9″N 106°38′34″W / 37.66917°N 106.64278°W / 37.66917; -106.64278Country

United StatesState

ColoradoCounty^[1]Rio Grande CountyIncorporatedMay 19, 1992^[2]Government

• TypeStatutory Town^[1]Area

^[3]

• Total2.50 sq mi (6.47 km²) • Land2.50 sq mi (6.47 km²) • Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)Elevation

^[4]

8,209 ft (2,502 m)Population

(2020)^[5]

• Total510 • Density200/sq mi (79/km²)Time zoneUTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)ZIP code^[6]

81154

Area code719FIPS code08-72395GNIS feature ID0203420WebsiteTown of South Fork

South Fork is a statutory town in Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. It lies at the confluence of the South Fork and Rio Grande rivers. The population was 510 at the 2020 census.^[5]

Geography

South Fork is located at 37°40′09″N 106°38′34″W / 37.669065°N 106.642829°W / 37.669065; -106.642829.^[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²), all land.

History

South Fork was once the site of timber milling operations.^[8]

South Fork was founded in 1882, by which date its location was already marked by the presence of a coaching post, dating from the construction of the railroad connection of the Rio Grande Western Railroad line to Creede, which had been built to support the Creede silver mine. It was only in 1992 that South Fork achieved independent statutory town status, making it the youngest statutory town in the state. Originally the principal economic activities involved forestry and mining, but in recent decades these have been overtaken in the employment statistics by tourism.

South Fork made Colorado headlines during the Summer of 2020 when its town board announced that solicitations for donations was unlawful within town limits. This was in response to a local farmer's market in which one of its vendors was asking people for donations to the Black Lives Matter movement and the NAACP.^[9]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
2000	604	—
2010	386	−36.1%
2020	510	32.1%

South Fork has about 600 permanent residents, but a substantially larger summer population due to seasonal residents and visitors.^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b "Active Colorado Municipalities". State of Colorado, Department of Local Affairs. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
^ "Colorado Municipal Incorporations". State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives. December 1, 2004. Retrieved September 2, 2007.
^ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. October 25, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
^ ^a ^b United States Census Bureau. "South Fork town, Colorado". Retrieved April 5, 2023.
^ "ZIP Code Lookup" (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Bruce Finley (June 23, 2013). "West Fork fire complex at nearly 66,200 acres and feeding on beetle-ravaged forests". Denver Post.
^ "Southern Colorado town tells farm owners asking for donations isn't allowed after BLM drive". October 2, 2020.