Pagosa Springs, Colorado

The town is named for a system of sulfur springs, Pagosa hot springs, located there, which includes the world's deepest geothermal hot spring.{{cite web| url = https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2011/9/colorado-claims-deepest-geothermal-hot-spring-record| title = Colorado claims deepest geothermal hot spring record {{!}} Guinness World Records| date = September 14, 2011| access-date = February 20, 2021| archive-date = March 7, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210307185126/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2011/9/colorado-claims-deepest-geothermal-hot-spring-record| url-status = live}} The "Mother" spring feeds primitive and developed hot springs located on the upper banks of the San Juan River, which flows through town. The primitive springs are freely accessible to the public, but are generally not for entering or interacting with because of the extreme water temperature. Developed springs feed soaking pools that are hosted by three privately owned soaking locations within town.{{cite web |title=Pagosa Springs Harnesses Geothermal Energy for More Than Hot Springs |url=https://visitpagosasprings.com/discover-geothermal |publisher=Visit Pagosa Springs |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211125021539/https://visitpagosasprings.com/discover-geothermal |url-status=live }} The water from the "Mother" spring is approximately {{convert|144|F||||}}.

Local indigenous people used the hot springs for centuries; the area was considered "sacred ground". In Navajo cosmology, Pagosa Springs is the place where the People (Diné) emerged from their Fourth World underground to the Fifth World, this one, as Aileen O'Bryan records in The Dîné: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians.{{cite book |last1=O'Bryan |first1=Aileen |title=The Dîné: Origin Myths of the Navaho Indians |date=1956 |publisher=Smithsonian Bureau of American Ethnology; Bulletin 163 |pages=12, n. 44 |url=https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/15457?show=full |access-date=January 29, 2022 |archive-date=January 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129233527/https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/15457?show=full |url-status=live }} In 1859, a white settler "discovered" the springs and developed them. In 1881, a bathhouse was first built there for paying customers.{{cite news |last1=Retzler |first1=Kathryn |title=Pagosa Springs - Healing Waters |publisher=San Juan Silver Stage; San Juan Publishing Group |date=2005}}

The Ute people called the sulfur-rich mineral springs {{lang|ute|Pah gosah}}, which is commonly translated in modern documents as "healing waters"; however according to Bill Hudson writing for the Pagosa Daily Post, a Ute elder once translated the phrase as "water ({{lang|ute|pah}}) that has a bad smell ({{lang|ute|gosah}})"{{Cite web|url=http://pagosadailypost.com/2015/07/14/editorial-taking-the-heat-part-two/|title=EDITORIAL: Taking the Heat, Part Two | Pagosa Daily Post News Events & Video for Pagosa Springs Colorado|access-date=December 11, 2016|archive-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220164208/http://pagosadailypost.com/2015/07/14/editorial-taking-the-heat-part-two/|url-status=live}} whereas the Archuleta County government states that "pagosa" is a Ute word meaning "healing or "boiling water."{{cite web |title=History of Archuleta County |url=https://www.archuletacounty.org/101/History-of-Archuleta-County#:~:text=Revered%20by%20the%20Indians%2C%20the,by%20many%20of%20the%20tribes. |website=Archuleta County |access-date=10 June 2024}}

After the Civil War, the United States government considered building a convalescent hospital in Pagosa Springs. However, the hospital project was cancelled, and the lands platted by the U.S. Army were sold to private parties who capitalized on the thermal mineral springs. Along the banks of the San Juan river, simple wooden bathhouses were constructed.

In the late 1880s, Dr. Mary Winter Fisher ventured west from Chicago to found a medical and healing practice in Pagosa Springs. The medical center in the town is named after her.{{cite news |last1=Vance |first1=Norm |last2=Terry |first2=Kate |title=Dr. Mary Fisher: Pagosa's Historic Heroine |publisher=Pagosa Springs Journal |date=May 18, 2020}}{{cite web |title=About the Pagosa Springs Medical Center |url=https://pagosaspringsmedicalcenter.org/dr-mary-medical-foundation/about-the-foundation/ |publisher=Pagosa Springs Medical Center |access-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123191813/https://pagosaspringsmedicalcenter.org/dr-mary-medical-foundation/about-the-foundation/ |url-status=live }}

In the 1930s, Cora Woods built a geothermal swimming pool and several small cabins on the Northeast corner of land she purchased from Bill Lynn, a local entrepreneur. There were a total of 23 cabins with no electricity, dirt floors, wood stoves, and oak iceboxes. In the 1950s, the Giordano family purchased the property from Cora Woods. The Giordanos were European coal miners who had settled in the Walsenburg, Colorado area. They dug additional geothermal wells, and built an enclosed bathhouse next to the thermal water swimming pool.

In the 1980s, Pagosa Springs received federal funding from the Department of Energy to drill two geothermal wells to heat buildings in the small downtown area of town. In the 1990s, the town built a new pipeline and municipal bridge to deliver mineral springs water to a new resort.

File:1911 flood, Pagosa Junction, Pagosa Springs, Colorado.jpg]]

On October 5, 1911, a flood occurred in Archuleta County, destroying the town's water supply pipeline and all the bridges throughout the county, including the bridges across the San Juan River. A cable was installed across the river providing residents a way to cross, and also to distribute food to those stranded by the flood. Many structures were damaged or destroyed including the electric plant. Train service as well as mail delivery halted in Pagosa Springs due to the train tracks being washed out.{{cite web |title=Flood of 1911 |url=http://www.pagosamuseum.org/flood-of-1911/ |website=Pagosa Museum |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730150743/http://www.pagosamuseum.org/flood-of-1911/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Flood District Short on Food: No Relief In Sight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-democrat-herald-flood-district-short/129221066/ |access-date=July 31, 2023 |publisher=Democrat-Herald |date=October 13, 1911 |archive-date=July 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731223943/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-democrat-herald-flood-district-short/129221066/ |url-status=live }}

Pagosa Springs is located {{convert|75|km|mi|order=flip}} east of Durango. The San Juan River flows through the middle of town.{{cite web |title=San Juan River at Pagosa Springs, Colorado |url=https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?09342500 |website=National Water Information System |publisher=USGS |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830184744/https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?09342500 |url-status=live }}

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of {{convert|12.64|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|12.57|km2|order=flip}} is land and {{convert|0.07|km2|order=flip}}, or 0.53%, is water.{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US0856860| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212182507/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US0856860| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Pagosa Springs town, Colorado| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=May 6, 2013}} The area around Pagosa Springs has numerous large waterfalls, including Treasure Falls to the east of town off of Hwy 160 just past the Wolf Creek Pass summit.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Approximately 65 percent of the land in Archuleta County is either San Juan National Forest, [http://www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/weminuche.html Weminuche] and [http://www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/sanjuan.html South San Juan] wilderness areas, or Southern Ute Indian reservation land.

Pagosa Springs is located approximately {{convert|35|mi}} north of the New Mexico border, at {{convert|7126|ft|m}} above sea level on the Western Slope of the Continental Divide. This combination of high desert plateau and the Rocky Mountains to the north and east creates an unusually mild climate, especially in the summer months. Pagosa sees around 300 days of sun each year, as well as four distinct seasons.{{Cite web|url=http://pagosadailypost.com/pagosa-weather/|title=Pagosa Weather | Pagosa Daily Post News Events & Video for Pagosa Springs Colorado|access-date=December 11, 2016|archive-date=October 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027035213/http://pagosadailypost.com/pagosa-weather/|url-status=live}}

The town is located in the upper San Juan Basin, surrounded by the {{convert|3|e6acre|sqmi km2|adj=on||}} San Juan National Forest, and adjacent to the largest wilderness area in the state of Colorado, the Weminuche Wilderness.

{{Weather box

|location = Pagosa Springs, CO (2000-2015 normals)

|single line = Y

|Jan high F = 37.9

|Feb high F = 42.6

|Mar high F = 49.2

|Apr high F = 59.2

|May high F = 68.3

|Jun high F = 78.3

|Jul high F = 83.1

|Aug high F = 80.7

|Sep high F = 74.3

|Oct high F = 63.7

|Nov high F = 49.7

|Dec high F = 39.6

|year high F =

|Jan low F = 1.4

|Feb low F = 7.0

|Mar low F = 15.9

|Apr low F = 23.9

|May low F = 30.2

|Jun low F = 36.3

|Jul low F = 45.2

|Aug low F = 44.6

|Sep low F = 36.6

|Oct low F = 26.3

|Nov low F = 15.4

|Dec low F = 5.0

|year low F =

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 1.97

|Feb precipitation inch = 1.42

|Mar precipitation inch = 1.60

|Apr precipitation inch = 1.36

|May precipitation inch = 1.20

|Jun precipitation inch = 0.95

|Jul precipitation inch = 1.88

|Aug precipitation inch = 2.52

|Sep precipitation inch = 1.85

|Oct precipitation inch = 2.29

|Nov precipitation inch = 1.39

|Dec precipitation inch = 1.78

|year precipitation inch = 20.22

|Jan snow inch = 26.4

|Feb snow inch = 18.9

|Mar snow inch = 15.1

|Apr snow inch = 5.5

|May snow inch = 0.9

|Jun snow inch = 0

|Jul snow inch = 0

|Aug snow inch = 0

|Sep snow inch = 0.1

|Oct snow inch = 3.2

|Nov snow inch = 10.0

|Dec snow inch = 21.2

|year snow inch = 101.5

|date=December 2014}}

{{US Census population

|1880= 223

|1900= 367

|1910= 669

|1920= 1032

|1930= 804

|1940= 1591

|1950= 1379

|1960= 1374

|1970= 1360

|1980= 1331

|1990= 1207

|2000= 1591

|2010= 1727

|2020= 1571

}}

As of the 2000 census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}, there were 1,591 people, 633 households, and 415 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|363.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 746 housing units at an average density of {{convert|170.2|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the town was 74.61% White, 0.50% African American, 2.20% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 18.73% from other races, and 3.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 43.18% of the population.

There were 633 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.4% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.6% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $29,469, and the median income for a family was $33,831. Males had a median income of $24,125 versus $21,406 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,355. About 11.9% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.6% of those under age 18 and 21.1% of those age 65 or over.

Archuleta County School District 50-JT operates the community's public schools.{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st08_co/schooldistrict_maps/c08007_archuleta/DC20SD_C08007.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Archuleta County, CO|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=July 12, 2022|archive-date=July 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713031305/https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st08_co/schooldistrict_maps/c08007_archuleta/DC20SD_C08007.pdf|url-status=live}} Pagosa Springs High School is the comprehensive high school.

Other recreational activities in the area include downhill and cross country skiing at nearby Wolf Creek ski area and snowmobiling in the surrounding National Forest. Summertime activities include fishing, hiking, and rafting. The area is also a popular destination for hunters, who harvest elk, deer, and other game animals.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

"Downtown Pagosa Springs" was the final destination for a duo of truckers in the 1975 country song "Wolf Creek Pass" by C. W. McCall. From Wolf Creek pass to town, U.S. Highway 160 goes through a vertical drop of {{convert|3730|ft|m|}}, and is described in the song as "hairpin county and switchback city".{{cite web| url = https://genius.com/Cw-mccall-wolf-creek-pass-lyrics| title = C.W. McCall – Wolf Creek Pass Lyrics {{!}} Genius Lyrics| access-date = November 25, 2021| archive-date = November 25, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211125015346/https://genius.com/Cw-mccall-wolf-creek-pass-lyrics| url-status = live}}

• Dan Fogelberg, an American singer/songwriter, lived on a working ranch near Pagosa Springs. His recording studio was on the property.
• Frank Oppenheimer, American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor{{cite web |title=The Oppenheimer Chair |url=https://www.pagosamuseum.org/the-oppenheimer-chair/ |website=Pagosa Springs Museum |access-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-date=July 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230730063423/https://www.pagosamuseum.org/the-oppenheimer-chair/ |url-status=live }}
• Ursala Hudson (Tlingit), Chilkat and Ravenstail weaver

{{portal|Colorado}}

• List of municipalities in Colorado

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{{Reflist}}

{{sister project links|auto=yes}}

• [http://www.visitpagosasprings.com/ Visit Pagosa Springs], The official website for Pagosa Springs visitor information
• [http://www.pagosasprings.co.gov Town of Pagosa Springs], The official website for The Town of Pagosa Springs
• [http://www.pagosa.com/ Pagosa.com], commercial site
• [http://www.pagosaspringscdc.org Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation]

{{Archuleta County, Colorado}}

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{{Colorado county seats}}

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Category:Towns in Archuleta County, Colorado

Category:Towns in Colorado

Category:County seats in Colorado