SPOTLIGHT ON CRAIG
Elevation: 6,197 feet
County: Moffat County seat
Population: 9,189
Percentage high school graduates: 80.4 (national rate: 80.4)
Percentage who have bachelor’s degrees: 13.8 (national rate: 24.4)
Percentage of veterans, those over 18 who have served but who are not currently serving: 16.1 (national rate: 12.7)
Median household income in 1999 dollars: $41,091 (national median: $41,994)
Name: The town was originally called Yampa, which had a post office from 1883 to 1889 under that name. It was changed to Craig for one of the town’s financial backers, the Rev. William Bayard Craig.
Brief history: W.H. Tucker first moved to the area in 1887 from Glenwood Springs to find a place to build a town in anticipation of a railroad line being built through the area. Tucker traveled to Denver to get financial backing for the town from the Rev. Craig and others. They formed the Craig Land and Mercantile Co.
The town was incorporated in 1908 and became the county seat in 1911, when Moffat County was developed from Routt County.
David H. Moffat, a miner and railroad owner, had the goal of building a rail line of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway from Denver to Salt Lake City. Moffat died in 1911 before the line was complete.
Because of expenses incurred while trying to build the line, the railroad went bankrupt and was reorganized in 1913. Then operating as the Denver and Salt Lake Railway, the line was completed to Craig that same year but was built no farther because of a lack of funds. For years, the Yampa Valley mail train ran daily between Denver and Craig.
Events: Each May, the Sombrero Ranch drives nearly 1,000 horses from their winter range to their summer range, traveling down U.S. 40 through the town of Maybell.
The annual Whittle the Wood Rendezvous wood-carving competition will be June 14-17, ending with a festival at City Park where the entries will be judged prior to a free community concert. Chain saws are used to carve the trunks of dead trees into pieces of art, which are displayed in the park. For information about the event, call 970-826-2004.
Interesting fact: The Craig power plant is the tallest man-made structure in Colorado.
Economy: The current economy is based on tourism and outdoor recreational activities such as hunting, fishing and snowshoeing, and natural resources, especially coal mining. There are also sheep and cattle ranching and wheat, hay and alfalfa farming.
Sources: Craig Chamber of Commerce; Museum of Northwest Colorado; Colorado Railroad Museum; USGS; U.S. Census Bureau 2000; “Colorado Place Names,” by William Bright; “1001 Colorado Place Names,” by Maxine Benson; Colorado State Archives
– Bonnie Gilbert
REGIONAL NOTE
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Dinner to honor foster parents
Eighty foster parents will be honored Saturday at a reception and dinner at the Denver Marriott West hosted by the Jefferson County Human Services Department.
Of the 80 feted at the annual event, 21 will be recognized for being licensed last year, and others will be hailed for marking their five-, 10-, 15-, and 25-year anniversaries.
