Conejos County, Colorado

Conejos County is one of the of the  in the. The county population was 8,400 at. The is the  of.

History
Conejos County was one of the original 17 counties created by the of the  on, although it was originally named  and renamed Conejos County a week later, on. It was named for the in the area. Also early in its existence, the county seat was moved from the town of Guadalupe to Conejos. The original boundaries of the county included a large portion of southwestern Colorado.

In, most of the western and northern portions of the county were broken away to form parts of , and  counties, and Conejos County achieved its modern borders in  when its western half was taken to create.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 3,343 (1,291 ). 3,334 km² (1,287 sq mi) of it is land and 9 km² (4 sq mi) of it (0.28%) is water.

Conejos County is in a broad high mountain valley in South Central. It has an area of approximately 825446 acre in 1290 sqmi. Roughly half the area is on the nearly level floor of the valley, where the average elevation is about 7700 ft. The western half of the county ranges from gently rolling to steep foothills with mountains that rise in elevation to about 13000 ft.

Conejos County is situated with the to the west and the  to the east, along Colorado's southern border with the state of. Only about 34 percent of Conejos County is privately owned with the other 66 percent being, (BLM) or State owned lands.

Adjacent Counties

 * - north
 * - northeast
 * - east
 * - southeast
 * - south
 * - west

Photographs of Sites Within Conejos County
Photographs Various Points of Interest in Conejos County

Climate
In winter, the average temperature is 21.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and the average daily minimum temperature is 4 degrees. In summer, the average temperature is 61.4 degrees, and the average maximum temperature is 79.6 degrees.

Seventy-one percent of the annual precipitation falls in the months of April through September. Average seasonal snowfall is 28 inches. The average relative humidity in mid-afternoon in spring is less than 35 percent; during the rest of the year, it is about 45 percent. The percentage of possible sunshine is 77 in the summer and 73 in the winter.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 8,400 people, 2,980 households, and 2,211 families residing in the county. The was 3/km² (6/sq mi). There were 3,886 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (3/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 72.76%, 0.21% or , 1.69% , 0.15% , 0.07% , 21.50% from , and 3.61% from two or more races. 58.92% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 2,980 households out of which 38.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were living together, 12.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.80% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.33.

In the county the population was spread out with 32.10% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 23.60% from 25 to 44, 20.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 98.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $24,744, and the median income for a family was $29,066. Males had a median income of $26,351 versus $20,200 for females. The for the county was $12,050. About 18.60% of families and 23.00% of the population were below the, including 28.20% of those under age 18 and 17.30% of those age 65 or over.

Religious History
The city of Conejos is the location of the oldest church in, called Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. This church was constructed in. The first settlers into the area were from, primarily from Abiquiu, San Juan de los Caballeros y Santa Cruz. As more people arrived, mission churches were set up and all had the records housed with Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.

When the neighboring town of was built, the, priests from Spain came into the area and built St. Augustine church in 1880 within. The church records from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish are now housed at the church offices of Saint Agustine. Conejos is approximately a mile northwest of.

came into Conejos County in 1880 establishing churches in Antonito, Alamosa, Cenicero, Del Norte, Mogote, San Rafael, and Monte Vista. They also established schools in the area and had a large number of converts. A jacal went up in 1854 in Guadalupe, now known as Conejos, which was the beginning of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.

There is also a large population within Conejos County. These Church of Jesus Christ of (LDS) settlers began settling in the towns of La Jara, Manassa and Sanford where each town also has an LDS church.

Cities, Towns & Villages

 * Bear Creek
 * Bountiful
 * Cañon
 * Carmel
 * Elk Creek
 * Fox Creek
 * Guadalupe
 * Horca
 * La Florida
 * La Sauses
 * Las Mesitas
 * Lobatos
 * Mogote
 * Ortiz
 * Osier
 * Platoro
 * Richfield
 * Rincones
 * San Antonio
 * Sheep Creek
 * Platoro
 * Richfield
 * Rincones
 * San Antonio
 * Sheep Creek
 * San Antonio
 * Sheep Creek
 * Sheep Creek

Historic trails and sites

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