Chaffee County, Colorado

Chaffee County Education, Geography, and History

Chaffee County is one of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 17,809. The county seat is Salida.  Chaffee county was created on February 10, 1879.  The county is named in honor of Jerome B. Chafee, Colorado's first United States Senator.

Etymology - Origin of Chaffee County Name

 The county is named for Jerome B. Chaffee, Colorado's first United States Senator.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Chaffee County History

Chaffee County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county seat is Salida.

Chaffee County was created by the Colorado legislature on February 10, 1879 out of southern Lake County (although at the time, Lake County was known as Carbonate County, a designation which lasted for only two days). It is known as the Heart of the Rockies. It was named for Jerome B. Chaffee, Colorado's first United States Senator.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,015 square miles (2,629 km²), of which, 1,013 square miles (2,625 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.15%) is water.

Chaffee County is on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. The county is located in central Colorado, bordered on the west by the Sawatch Range, including the 14,000 foot Continental Divide, the eastern boundary of the county follows the Mosquito Range, down toward the south. Located high in the Upper Arkansas Valley, the Arkansas River flows toward the southeast, between the two mountain ranges.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Northeast: Park County
• Southeast: Fremont County
• South: Saguache County
• West: Gunnison County
• Northwest: Pitkin County; Lake County

Education

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