SMALL TOWNS PROJECT

Elizabeth and I have been traveling the backroads of Colorado for over a decade together, ever since we owned our first small ranch outside of Fairplay, Colorado (population 679), and now from our place north of Silverthorne (population 3,887) in the Lower Blue River Valley. Along those byways, we have visited a few dozen small towns that were always fascinating in their unique ways—some nearly totally abandoned, some still functioning but in decline, some actually rebounding as urbanites seeking fresh air, simplicity or simply lower costs of living. We wondered—how did they come to be? Who lives here and what do they do? How have they deteriorated and how are they reviving? How different are they from the cities we have lived in our entire lives? What do they think of us?

And always, always, there were beautiful photographs to be made and stories to be heard and learned. So we began to think, wouldn’t it be fascinating to record both visually and textually the stories of these towns before they either disappeared or changed beyond recognition? We had casually visited only 10 or 20 of these towns on our road trips. But there are at least 100 towns in Colorado that have fewer than 200 full-time residents, and there are many more that fit the description of a small town but are unincorporated. There are some that feel like small towns (like Yampa or Alma), but that have more than 200 residents. We decided that we would start with a larger list of some 120 places, and then whittle it down from there to a group of 50 or so that we could really do service to, and that were interesting and representative enough to provide a story about small town life in Colorado. 

We started in earnest in 2020 as the pandemic ended our plans for our usual foreign travel. Like many Americans, we were forced to think about traveling to the places that we could safely drive to—and that included our adopted state of Colorado. We sometimes forget that the greatest adventures might just lie right outside our door, and that has been the case in the launch of our Small Towns Colorado project. We have learned a lot. We have felt a lot. And the images and stories are every bit as dramatic as those from western China, Nairobi or the Faroe Islands.

It is also a time when we are embroiled in one of the fiercest and most polarizing elections in our memories. As “coastal elites” (even though Elizabeth came from very poor Cuban immigrant roots, and I grew up in the solidly Republican enclave of Colorado Springs), we often struggle to understand the resentment and suspicions of much of rural America toward their fellow urban citizens. Traveling through backroads in Oklahoma, Texas and Florida gives one the impression that America has drifted overwhelmingly rightward—seeing those outside of rural America as the “other”—somehow foreign, ungenuine, unpatriotic. We also know that some of our urban friends take a similar view of rural America—as out of touch, ignorant, stubborn and racist. But there are more complex issues at play. And the only way to understand them better is to go out to these small towns and really listen to what they have to say, to understand their histories, their current struggles, and what dreams they have abandoned and those they still cling to. We need to “feel” their lives through imagery and conversation. Small Town Colorado is more than a photo montage of tiny communities and abandoned structures—it is an ethnography about a small section of rural America that must be understood by everyone if we are to bridge the divides of Election 2020 and beyond. 

New York Times reporter Eduardo Porter puts it this way: 

The distress of 50 million Americans should concern everyone. Powerful economic forces are arrayed against rural America and, so far, efforts to turn it around have failed. Not every small town can be a tech hub, nor should it be. But that can’t be the only answer. [12/14/2018]

 Richard Bradley, in the WORTH newsletter of December 23, 2019, notes:

In this country, the difference between red and blue isn’t so much a question of state versus state or economic class versus economic class, but of thriving urban America versus stagnant or declining rural America. Trump won by playing upon rural voters’ powerful sense of being left behind and left out of a national economy that has, in fact, been leaving them behind.

In most places, rural America is growing older, poorer and less productive. America has been steadily urbanizing since 1900, when more than half of the population lived in rural areas—now only 20% do so. But the number of Americans living in rural places—about 59 million—is more than it was in 1950 and is growing again as the pandemic fuels fundamental choices about life and work. It is not ordained that small towns in America must disappear. Many will, but many will also manage to survive, and perhaps even thrive. In fact, research shows that the number of non-metropolitan counties that were in decline prior to 1990 (1,200 counties) has been cut in half (only 600 counties in decline). [Calvin Beale, Economic Research Service, USDA, as quoted in Population Reference Bureau, Allison Tarmann, January 1, 2003]. While the number of Americans who live on farms and ranches has declined to just 3 million (less than 1% of the US population), the number of people living in rural small towns has increased. They are living there and commuting, or working from home, or running small businesses. They are small town people, but they are connected as never before to urban areas.

Despite the anti-immigrant rhetoric that we assume comes from rural American, many small towns have been revitalized through immigration. Hispanics now account for 25% of the population growth in non-metropolitan counties.  Furthermore, many small towns are seeing a continued and growing influx of retirees seeking a simpler, lower-cost and secure lifestyle. Poverty rates are still high nationally, but in Colorado, non-metro counties with poverty rates in excess of 20% are concentrated in a three-county area in the San Luis Valley. Most small towns are doing better. High poverty rates are much more prevalent in New Mexico, Texas, the deep South, and Appalachia.

At first glance, one could assume that small town America is in inevitable decline. The abandoned, boarded-up homes and businesses and empty streets are all too visually evident. But a closer, more comprehensive look is needed. What can be saved of the charm, history and soul of these small towns? We can save a lot through the lens. But perhaps there is more to be saved. We hope this project will help us celebrate what is good and memorable about the small towns of Colorado, and also help us fully appreciate what their contributions have been, and more importantly, what their contributions could be in the years ahead.

According to the 2010 US Census, the 50 smallest towns, census designated places (CDP) or unincorporated places (UIP) in Colorado are listed below, in order of population. The smallest is Fulford, with a population of 2. The largest and last on the list is Crook, Colorado, with a population of 110.  Hence, roughly, these are the recognized towns and places in our state with populations generally under 100 persons.  We have already made preliminary site visits to about a dozen of these towns. 

PLACE NAME                         2010 POPULATION                   COUNTY

Fulford                                             2                                       Eagle

Norrie                                               7                                       Pitkin

Lynn                                                12                                      Las Animas

Cathedral                                       14                                      Hinsdale

Blue Sky                                         15                                      Morgan

Garfield                                          15                                      Chaffee

Wolcott                                           15                                      Eagle

Bonanza                                         16                                      Saguache

Brandon                                         21                                      Kiowa

Towner                                           22                                      Kiowa

McCoy                                            24                                      Eagle

Piedra                                            28                                      Hinsdale

Vernon                                           29                                      Yuma

Colona                                           30                                      Ouray 

Paoli                                               34                                      Phillips

San Acacio                                     40                                      Costilla

Sawpit                                            40                                      San Miguel

Two Buttes                                     43                                      Baca

Cotopaxi                                         47                                      Fremont

Laird                                               47                                      Yuma

Parshall                                          47                                      Grand

Valdez                                             47                                      Las Animas

Goldfield                                         49                                      Teller

Weston                                            55                                      Las Animas

Saddle Ridge                                  56                                      Morgan

Amherst                                          58                                      Phillips

Conejos                                           58                                      Conejos

Kirk                                                 59                                       Yuma

Starkville                                        59                                       Las Animas

Montezuma                                    65                                       Summit

Pitkin                                              66                                       Gunnison

Tincup                                            66                                       Gunnison 

Stonewall Gap                               67                                       Las Animas

Haswell                                          68                                       Kiowa

Maybell                                          72                                        Moffat

Branson                                         74                                        Las Animas

Kim                                                74                                        Las Animas

Padroni                                          76                                        Logan

Joes                                                80                                        Yuma

Hartman                                        81                                        Prowers

Idalia                                              88                                        Yuma

Sheridan Lake                               88                                        Kiowa

Raymer                                          96                                        Weld

Guffey                                            98                                        Park

Segundo                                        98                                        Las Animas

Hooper                                        103                                         Alamosa

Vona                                            103                                         Kit Carson

Florissant                                    104                                         Teller

Campo                                        109                                          Baca

Crook                                          110                                          Logan

Not every one of the small towns on this list will necessarily receive the same treatment in our project.  Some are simply more interesting and impactful than others.  But we will see them all and make our determinations from there .  It is also very possible that other towns and places will come up during our travels that have escaped the census-takers, and there will be those that need to be removed from our consideration because they are only suburban/exurban extensions of a major metropolitan area.  We have already eliminated a number of census-listed small places because it was clear than they were simply extensions of, or had been completely surrounded by, large metropolitan populations.  That means that we have eliminated a number of places in Boulder, Jefferson, Adams and Araphoe counties.  It is also important to us that we focus on communities that are more than just place-names for a few scattered residences; so we know there will be small, unincorporated places or ghost towns that won't make our list.  We will do our best to try to give an honest and realistic sense of how history, ethnography, economy and politics have come to give these small towns their unique sense of place, and thereby, allow a greater understanding of their importance to our national character. 

Of interest to those who work to preserve and maintain the history of the state is the fact that less than half of these towns (21 out of 50) have any listed State or National-registered historic structures or districts. Surely there are more structures, features or districts that are suitable for recognition by the state historical society, and one of our objectives will be to nominate such places when we see them.

It is important to recognize that there are a number of larger towns and designated places that are still clearly “small” by any normal definition, but not as small as the list of 50 just preceding. The next largest group of 50 places range in population from about 110 to 250. This list encompasses some names that will be familiar to Coloradoans, but many that will not be so recognizable.  Again, less than half (22 of the 50) have designated State or National-registered historic assets—a good number of registrations, but surely there are more historic assets to be found. The next 50 largest towns in Colorado are shown below, again listed in order of their 2010 census population.  We have already visited nine of these towns.

PLACE NAME                         2010 POPULATION                  COUNTY

Hoehne                                         111                                       Las Animas

Vilas                                              114                                       Baca

Orchard                                        115                                       Morgan

Granite                                         116                                       Chaffee

Moffat                                           116                                       Saguache

Black Hawk                                  118                                       Gilpin

Smeltertown                                120                                       Chaffee

No Name                                      123                                       Garfield

Ramah                                          123                                       El Paso

Crestone                                       127                                       Saguache

Divide                                            127                                       Teller     

Cokedale                                       129                                       Las Animas

Westcreek                                     129                                       Douglas

Redstone                                      130                                       Pitkin

Marble                                          131                                        Gunnison

Snyder                                          132                                        Morgan

Atwood                                         133                                        Logan

Maysville                                      135                                         Chaffee

Portland                                       135                                         Ouray

Grover                                          137                                         Weld

Genoa                                          139                                         Lincoln

Pritchett                                      140                                         Baca

Eldora                                          142                                         Boulder

Hasty                                           144                                         Bent

Sedgwick                                     146                                         Sedgwick

Weldona                                      146                                         Morgan

Ward                                            150                                         Boulder

Rye                                               153                                         Pueblo

Jackson Lake                               154                                         Morgan

Ophir                                            159                                         San Miguel

Silver Plume                                170                                         Clear Creek

Twin Lakes                                   171                                         Lake

Southern Ute                               177                                         La Plata

Rollinsville                                    181                                        Gilpin

Seibert                                          181                                        Kit Carson

Chromo                                        182                                        Archuleta

Model                                           183                                        Las Animas

Arriba                                           193                                        Lincoln

Timpas                                         201                                        Otero

Phippsburg                                  204                                        Routt

Sedalia                                         206                                        Douglas

El Moro                                         221                                        Las Animas

Catherine                                     228                                        Garfield

Elbert                                           230                                        Elbert

Kit Carson                                    233                                        Cheyenne

Redvale                                        236                                        Montrose

Bethune                                       237                                        Kit Carson

Peyton                                          250                                       El Paso

Vineland                                       251                                       Pueblo

Cheraw                                         252                                       Otero

Altogether, the population of these 100 small Colorado towns is about 11,000 persons, or less than one-quarter of one percent of Colorado's 5 million plus population.  A very small slice of the state's populous indeed--but perhaps a far more significant slice of its history.

As we progress in our photographic tours of Small Town Colorado, we will keep other larger and smaller places in mind, looking for similarities and differences with this initial group of the smallest towns, with a view toward creating a truthful and comprehensive view of what the small town means and whether size, or other measures, mean most to historical, social and political importance in telling the story of Small Town Colorado.  

As we mapped out the locations of the smallest towns in Colorado, some interesting regional observations began to appear.  We began this project in the early summer of 2020 on a road trip from our winter quarters in Florida to our ranch outside of Silverthorne.  The first small towns we visited were in the far reaches of southeastern Colorado along the side roads from US 50 as it enters from Kansas and heads west toward Pueblo.  My grandfather came from a small homestead ranch in this area--Lamar to be exact-- in the years that forever marked the ascendance and decline of the agricultural economy in this area of the state--from the boom farm years of WWI, to the drought-induced dust bowl era of the late 1920s and the compound tragedy of the Great Depression.  Two major historical events--the arrival of the railroads and the arrival of the dust--have done more to define this region's towns than anything else.   Similarly, the small mountain towns of the central counties of Colorado are defined by the gold and silver booms of 1859 and the Crash of 1893; and the later booms of the early 1900s and the declines brought on by two world wars.  A serious of towns west of the cities of Trinidad and Walsenburg trace their origins to the great appetitive for coal to feed the steel mills of Colorado Fuel & Iron and east as they in turn fed the demand for railroad expansion throughout the west in the late 1800s and early decades of the 1900s. The small towns of southwestern Colorado and the San Luis Valley are a story of migration and the vibrancy of Hispanic culture in those areas.

Rather than repeat these epic themes in the stories of each individual town, in the following sections we will try to give an overview of major historic, economic, environmental and cultural forces that had a major impact on all of the small towns in a given region.  Among those themes are:· The Dust Bowl, otherwise known as the Dirty Thirties, and the failed agricultural development of the southern plains that exacerbated the disaster.· The Panic of 1893, and the related impacts of the Sherman Silver Act, that jolted the silver mining industry in the central Rockies.· Railroad expansion of the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that created both boom and bust in towns across Colorado.· The Homestead Act of 1862, and the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, combined with the copious flow of immigrants to the US in the same time period, that changed the entire demographic flavor of the region.· The Great Depression, and its devastating impact on local economies, but also its legacy of renewal coming in the form of New Deal programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).· The impact of two world wars, and other conflicts, and the outsized role of US military development in the economy of Colorado and its towns in the decades since WWII. 

While a large portion of America’s vast accretion of land through purchase (Louisiana Purchase 1804), conquest (Mexican-American War 1843) and annexation (Texas 1850) had been settled by the white establishment at the turn of the 19thcentury, there remained a vast, dry grassland west of the 100thmeridian and south of the Missouri River that remained a province of open-range cattlemen, Native American tribes and a smattering of traders and hardy settlers largely dependent on the cattle kingdom to survive. With less than 20 inches of rain per year, and in some places less than 10 inches, the 160-acre plots promised by the original Homestead Act (enacted in 1862) were completely insufficient to sustain a farming family. The railroads, which had vast grants of land in the areas associated with their headlong expansion westward, and the newly-minted state politicians, were anxious for settlers and development to fuel their growth. They lobbied Congress to eventually pass the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909, which granted each homesteader the right to 320 acres of land instead of 160 in an effort to encourage immigrants to the Great American Desert. They also funded publicity touts to follow climate hoaxes, like “the rain follows the plow” and false reports of vast productivity of farmlands in the southern plains in order to encourage settlement and conversion of the lands to the farming of wheat, beans, corn and other crops. Formerly huge ranches, such as the XIT in the Texas Panhandle, were pressured by their British and New York investors to sell land to new immigrant farmers rather than to raise cattle. The cattle kingdom had suffered huge losses in successive winter storms in the late 1880s, and further economic damage from oversupply to the market—forever shrinking the cattle business in the west.

So the settlers came, and claimed their 320-plus acre farms across the southern plains, or the llano estaco (as the Comanche referred to it—land so flat and treeless that you needed stakes in the ground so as not to lose your way). Homesteading peaked in 1914 at 53,000 claims registered. The XIT ranch went from 3 million acre of open range, to a mere 450,000 acres—the rest sold off to settler farmers hoping to make their fortunes in wheat and beans. Indeed, it looked promising in 1914. The Russian Revolution and WWI had decimated European wheat production just at the time that demand accelerated during the war. Wheat prices soared. Immigrants were abandoning Europe in droves. The Great American Desert beckoned.

Without modern agricultural science to guide them, and ignorant of the longer-term trends of weather patterns in the Great Plains—that promised some years of fully adequate rains, followed by many more years of drought—these new farmers came with the same farming techniques that they practiced in Europe and in the rainy Midwest. They plowed up the grassland and planted traditional crops. For a while, yields were prodigious and times were good. Then, in the early 1930s, the rains stopped coming.

“Miles to water, miles to wood, and only six inches to hell” was what they used to say about the southern plains. Those six inches of topsoil, and the tough prairie grasses that held it in place, were all that stood between survival and disaster. When the rains failed to come in 1930 and the years after, the plowed up barren soil calcified in the sun and became powerless against the unforgiving prairie winds. Tons of topsoil turned into microscopic dust that rose up and obscured the sun, buried fields, houses and barns in fierce storms of dust that at towered thousands of feet into the air. The drought and the storms persisted for most of the the 1930s; reaching an apex in April 1935 when one storm moved 300,000 tons of soil across six states and even onward to the Atlantic coast. The worst affected area covered the eastern third of Kansas, all of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, and the southeastern plains of Colorado—an area of 300 miles east-to-west and 450 miles north-to-south—over 100 million acres of formerly productive farmland now permanently reduced to actual desert. Compounding the issue were plagues of grasshoppers that devastated whatever meager crops were grown in 1934, 1937 and 1938. With drought and dust, the birds which would have normally kept grasshopper populations in check were gone. 

Over 3.5 million people living in the Plains states left the region between 1930 and 1940, and not all, by far, were farmers. Estimates are that about one-third of the farm population in the Dust Bowl area, or 250,000 persons, left and never came back. Two-thirds dug in and stayed. Together with New Deal programs like the WPA, CCC and the Soil Conservation Service, those who stayed converted their methods to dry-land farming and ranching enterprises that fit the environment. Rail lines and grain terminals did not survive, but some towns rebounded to a new, albeit smaller, existence.