Elbert

History

The Elbert, Colorado Territory, post office opened on March 12, 1875. The community takes its name from Elbert County. The most significant flood events in Elbert County occurred in 1935, 1965, 1997, and 1999. The most damaging flood was in 1935, when flooding on Kiowa Creek destroyed three-fourths of the structures location in Elbert and resulted in nine deaths, seven of them in Elbert. All bridges were lost, 59 buildings were destroyed, water was deep, and there were of sand. Three-fourths of the town of Elbert was destroyed and not rebuilt. On 11 January 1998 a fireball was seen over Elbert County. On 4 March 2000 a stone of 680.5 g was found in a field by the-five-year old Dustin Riffel on the property of his family. It was officially named "Elbert" and it was classified as an ordinary chondrite LL6. On June 15, 2009, at 1:46 p.m., a large three-quarter mile-wide, EF2 tornado touched down in rural fields west of the town. The tornado came within of the town at its closest. The tornado destroyed a barn at a farm and damaged an airplane hangar.

Geography

Elbert is located in the valley of Kiowa Creek. Elbert Road leads north to Kiowa and south to Eastonville. Colorado Springs is to the southwest via Elbert Road and U.S. Route 24. During the summer, Elbert is much busier due to a nearby Boy Scout camp, Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch, which has 10,000 visitors annually. south of Elbert lies the JCC Ranch Camp, a Jewish camp owned by the Denver Jewish Community Center. The Elbert CDP has an area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  1,728
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,615
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  1,577
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  1,545
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,513
• Pygmy Nuthatch

  Sitta pygmaea Vigors, 1839 · Aves
  1,424
• Spotted Towhee

  Pipilo maculatus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  1,387
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  1,373

Largest nearby schools

• Running Creek Elementary School
  Elementary · ELIZABETH · 309 students · 12.9:1 ratio
• Kiowa Elementary School
  Elementary · KIOWA · 162 students · 23.1:1 ratio
• Elbert Elementary School
  Elementary · ELBERT · 141 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Elbert Junior-Senior High School
  High · ELBERT · 140 students · 10.8:1 ratio
• Kiowa High School
  High · KIOWA · 79 students · 19.8:1 ratio
• Kiowa Middle School
  Middle · KIOWA · 68 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• Elizabeth Running Creek Preschool
  Other · ELIZABETH · 66 students · 66:1 ratio