Lake City

History

With the completion of the first road into the mountains in this region, Lake City served as a supply center for the many miners and prospectors flooding into the area. As a supply center, the town boomed to as many as 3,000 to 5,000 settlers. But as the first-discovered deposits were found to be only moderately productive and no new extensive or rich deposits of minerals were found, by 1879 the boom had subsided. With the arrival of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1889, Lake City saw a second upturn in the economy that lasted into the 1890s. The railroad cut the cost of shipping gold and silver ores to smelters, reduced the cost of shipping supplies into Lake City, and provided shipment of cattle and sheep into the area for summer grazing in the high Alpine meadows. By 1905, the mining era was over and Lake City entered a decades-long period of economic decline. Population figures hovered at 1,000 then dropped to 400 after 1910. Although mining continued throughout the twentieth century, it consisted primarily of exploration and speculation rather than productive operation. Beginning in 1915, visitors began coming to Lake City for the entire summer season and by the 1930s tourism had emerged as a viable industry. The Hinsdale County Historical Society formed in 1973 and began accumulating documents and photographs recording the town's history. In 1978, the Lake City Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Residents have restored many of the boom town mining era buildings and currently promote tourism as an industry. Restoration has not only aided the local economy by making Lake City a desirable tourist destination, it has served economic development with preservation projects creating jobs for local carpenters, craftsmen, and…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 1.18% is water. Lake City experiences a continental climate (Köppen climate classification 'Dfb') that only just escapes being classified as semi-arid due to its relatively wet early springs and late autumns. On average, the wettest month is August, and the driest is February. Very large daily temperature swings are a regular feature of Lake City's climate, due to the elevation and aridity.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  445
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  318
• Mountain Chickadee

  Poecile gambeli (Ridgway, 1886) · Aves
  314
• Steller's Jay

  Cyanocitta stelleri (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  305
• Broad-tailed Hummingbird

  Selasphorus platycercus (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  293
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  289
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  275
• Violet-green Swallow

  Tachycineta thalassina (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  254

Largest nearby schools

• Lake City Community School
  Other · LAKE CITY · 81 students · 7.4:1 ratio