Mancos, Colorado


The Town of Mancos is a Statutory Town located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,336 at the 2010 United States Census.
The town of Mancos is located in southwestern Colorado, near the Four Corners, at the base of Mesa Verde National Park, and holds the trademark for "Gateway to Mesa Verde". Surrounded by rangeland and mountains, Mancos offers a variety of outdoor recreational activities. The town was founded in 1894, near the site where early Spanish explorers first crossed the Mancos River. It is the commercial center for east Montezuma County, and was considered at one time as a county seat for Montezuma County. It is served by U.S. Highway 160 and State Highway 184.

History

Ancient Pueblo People

The Mancos Valley has been settled since at least the 10th century, although various severe conditions in the mid to late 13th century saw the area and its multitude of small villages abandoned by the Ancient Pueblo People. The Mancos area is dotted with inventoried and uninventoried archeological sites, including both isolated houses and shelters and small village complexes. Mancos Valley residents were probably among those who withdrew to the cliff dwellings on Mesa Verde, perhaps for defensive purposes, due to climate change, or as part of concentration policy of possible invaders and occupiers of the region.
Archaeological sites of the Ancient Pueblo period include:
Control of the area was contested by nomadic Navajo and Ute for centuries. Spanish friars and military passed through the area as part of the Old Spanish Trail connecting New Mexico and California in the 18th century. The name "Mancos" comes from the Domínguez–Escalante expedition of 1776, though the reason for the name remains unclear. By some unverified accounts, the name Mancos refers to the crippled nature of the Spanish explorers' horses after they crossed the San Juan Mountains. According to unverified lore, the horses were rejuvenated by the lush green grass in the Mancos Valley. Somewhere in the town is the point at which the expedition crossed the Rio Mancos on its way to California from Old Mexico.

19th and 20th century

The Old Spanish Trail trade route passed through the area of Mancos from 1829 into the 1850s.
Part of the original Ute Reservation in 1868, Mancos was part of the San Juan Cession of 1873, and cattle ranchers began settling the Mancos Valley in the 1870s, providing cattle to the mining camps of the San Juan and La Plata ranges. Today, the boundary of the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation is located some south of town. At the time it was founded, Mancos served as the primary commercial trading center for eastern Montezuma County, rivaling the town of Dolores to the northwest. At that time, Cortez, now the county seat, was barely a bend in the wagon trail. In the 1890s, Mancos was platted and built as a stop along the Rio Grande Southern Railway built by Otto Mears - Colorado's southwestern railroad pathfinder, connecting Durango to the east, and the Telluride mining districts to the north, via Dolores. Ranchers in the Mancos Valley continued to provide beef, timber, and other agricultural products to the mining camps. Following this, Latter-day Saints colonists moved into the area and established farms and small communities such as Weber and Cherry Creek.
Local farmers and ranchers began constructing irrigation canals to bring water from the Mancos River to cropland and pasture in various parts of the Mancos Valley in the late 1870s and 1880s, and by the beginning of the 20th century a large network of irrigation ditches and laterals was operating and continues to operate today. In the mid-2000s, a large project, the Mancos Valley Salinity Control Project, was funded by various sources, including the US Bureau of Reclamation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and local irrigation and water companies and districts. The project, nearly complete in 2010, includes replacing many open irrigation ditches with piping to conserve water and prevent salt contamination from infiltration and evaporation of irrigation water. Many of the original irrigation ditches have been determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, together with various archeological sites.
Incorporated in 1894, Mancos town government quickly asserted itself, banning fast riding and driving in town the next year, as well as building boardwalks. A water system and electrical system were constructed in 1904, followed by a new bridge across the river in 1905 and concrete sidewalks in 1909. However, most side streets of the town remain unpaved. The abandonment of the railroad in the 1950s allowed US 160 to be rerouted to follow the present Railroad Avenue, leaving Grand Avenue, the town's main street, as a business route; an earlier route of US 160 is now County Road J, south of the river and most of the town. The establishment of Mesa Verde National Park also encouraged early growth of Mancos.
Several Mancos sites from about the turn of the 20th century are listed on the state or national register of historic places. The first two are on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties, the remaining are on the National Register of Historic Places:
Attempts to create a separate Mancos County from the eastern portion of Montezuma County in the mid-20th century failed. Agricultural development, and to a certain extent, tourism, benefited from the Mancos Project of the US Bureau of Reclamation in the 1950s, which created Jackson Reservoir north of the town, today the site of Mancos State Park. This project also supplies water for the town, a rural water district, and Mesa Verde National Park.
In recent years the growth of Durango has spread to Mancos, making the town something of an art colony. Aramark, the concessionaire for Mesa Verde National Park, has facilities in the town, and there is a specialty aspen sawmill and other small industrial enterprises. Numerous events are held in the town each year, including Mancos Days the last weekend in July, a motorcycle rally over Labor Day weekend, and a balloon festival in September. Much of the farm and ranch land in the Mancos Valley has been subdivided into rural residential and "hobby ranch" properties in recent years, as is happening in much of Montezuma County. Several major subdivisions immediately adjacent to Mancos are in various stages of development and are expected to greatly increase the town's population by 2015, despite some slowdown due to economic conditions. The Mancos Library District constructed a new public library in 2008, located on a former electrical generating station site south of the Mancos River. Most recent new businesses and business activity are occurring outside the corporate limits of the town, in Montezuma County jurisdiction. In 2007-2010, there have been numerous controversial approvals of new commercial developments, including mail-order firms, sand and gravel pits, ready-mix plants and hot-mix asphalt facilities, by the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners.

Geography

Mancos is located at .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all land.
Mancos is located in the Mancos River valley at an elevation of approximately. The Mancos River was named by Spanish explorers perhaps for the way the river, which rises in the La Plata Mountains northeast of Mancos, drains the valley and then flows into the narrow confines of Weber Canyon and Mancos Canyon, southwest of Mesa Verde, where it joins the San Juan River. The town's skyline is dominated by the mass of Mesa Verde to the west, Menefee Mountain to the southeast, and the La Plata Mountains, a range to the east and northeast, in which the headwaters of the Mancos River originate.
Originally laid out as a railroad town, Mancos stretches for approximately a mile along the river and on both sides of it, while newer areas lie north of the old railroad alignment. The small main business district lies along Business Route 160, Grand Avenue, while newer business areas are located along the main highway. The highly publicized death of a schoolchild in 2003 led to a major reconstruction of US 160 through the town in following years, creating a street pattern which somewhat hampers development.
The Mancos River flows from east to west through the town, and then flows to the south into Mancos Canyon, on the west and south toe of Mesa Verde. Much of the townsite is located in a Special Flood Hazard Area ), including most bridges connecting the two parts of the town.
Northeast of Mancos is Mancos State Park located on Jackson Gulch Reservoir built by the Mancos Irrigation Project. Echo Basin, a winter skiing area and various vacation resorts and dude ranches, as well as an elk ranch and other tourist-, sports-, and hunting-related activities are located in and around the town.
As is common in Colorado, many government services are provided by special districts, both inside the corporate limits of the town of Mancos and outside in the county. Among these are the Mancos Library District, Mancos Water Conservancy District and Mancos Fire Protection District. The nearest hospitals are Southwest Memorial Hospital in Cortez and Mercy Regional Hospital in Durango, approximately east. The town does have a medical clinic, funded through a variety of private and public sources.
The nearest general aviation and commercial airport is located southwest of Cortez, approximately west. There are a few private airstrips in the vicinity of Mancos, but these are not open to the public; a former town airfield near Jackson Gulch Reservoir is sometimes still marked on maps.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,119 people, 478 households, and 292 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,938.4 people per square mile. There were 524 housing units at an average density of 907.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 88.65% White, 2.23% Native American, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 7.86% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.42% of the population.
There were 478 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the town, the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $25,223, and the median income for a family was $32,188. Males had a median income of $27,708 versus $17,292 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,946. About 11.8% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Mancos is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Durango-Grand Junction Outrider line.

Notable people