Guffey, Colorado

Guffey is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in southern Park County, Colorado, United States. The Guffey post office has the ZIP Code 80820.[3] At the United States Census 2010, the population of the Guffey CDP was 98, while the population of the 80820 ZIP Code Tabulation Area was 806 including adjacent areas.[4] Park County governs the unincorporated town.

Guffey, Colorado
Census Designated Place
Main Street in Guffey.
Location of the Guffey CDP in Park County, Colorado.
Guffey
Location of the Guffey CDP in the United States.
Coordinates: 38°45′33″N 105°30′09″W[1]
Country United States
State Colorado
CountyPark County
Government
 • Typeunincorporated town
Area
 • Total8.695 sq mi (22.519 km2)
 • Land8.674 sq mi (22.466 km2)
 • Water0.020 sq mi (0.053 km2)
Elevation8,891 ft (2,710 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total98
 • Density11/sq mi (4/km2)
Time zoneUTC-7 (MST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-6 (MDT)
ZIP Code[3]
80820
Area code(s)719
GNIS feature[2]Guffey CDP

History

The town was the center of activity for the Freshwater Mining District, a minor producer of copper, lead, zinc, mica, feldspar, and other minerals, including traces of gold and silver. Activity and population peaked between the years 1895 and 1902, with over 500 residents and 40 businesses in the town. Cattle ranching and lumber operations supplemented the mining activity.[5]

In January 2001, the bodies of three members of the Dutcher family were found near Guffey; all had been murdered. Three teenagers were convicted of the crime. The boys had formed a group that took on aspects of a paramilitary organization, and one of them claimed that the murders were part of a plan to fight insurrection in the country of Guyana. The brutal nature of the crime and its bizarre motive attracted national attention.[6][7]

The town is perhaps less famous for its annual Fourth of July Chicken Fly, a tradition which lasted for twenty-six years, but ending in 2016. At the chicken-fly, small chickens were released from a velvet-lined mailbox atop a ten-foot-high (3.04 m) platform; prizes were awarded for those chickens that flew the greatest distance.[8]

Geography

Guffey is located about one mile north of State Highway 9 on County Road 102, southeast of South Park. Freshwater Creek flows past the east side of the community.[9]

The Guffey CDP has an area of 5,565 acres (22.519 km2), including 13 acres (0.053 km2) of water.[1]

Geology

Rocks from two distinct times in Earth's history, the Precambrian and the Paleogene, are exposed in the area. The Precambrian rocks, comprising both igneous intrusive and metamorphic rocks over one billion years old, host mineral deposits of minor economic significance. The relatively much younger Paleogene rocks were erupted by the Guffey volcanic center of the Thirtynine Mile volcanic area about 34 million years ago and are associated with the fossil deposits at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.[5]

Meteorite
Guffey meteorite, front or brustseite

In 1907, a 309 kilogram meteorite was found near Guffey by two cowboys, although the exact location was not recorded. To date, this is the largest meteorite ever recovered in the state of Colorado. It is classified as an ungrouped iron meteorite, sometimes considered an ataxite due to its high nickel content and lack of Widmanstätten patterns. Most of the meteorite resides in New York City at the American Museum of Natural History, although the Denver Museum of Nature and Science has acquired a slice. No samples are available for public viewing in Guffey itself.[5][10][11]

Demographics

The United States Census Bureau initially defined the Guffey CDP for the United States Census 2010.

Guffey CDP, Colorado
YearPop.±%
201098—    
2020—    
Source: United States Census Bureau

See also

References
  1. "State of Colorado Census Designated Places - BAS20 - Data as of January 1, 2020". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  2. "U.S. Board on Geographic Names: Domestic Names". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  3. "Look Up a ZIP Code". United States Postal Service. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  4. "2010: DEC Summary File 1". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  5. Veatch, Steven W.; Alfrey, Dan; Beckwith, Jo; Blair, Becky; Peterson, Chris L.; Johnston, Wayne; Hammond, Maury; Loest, Maury (November 8–9, 2008). "Mineral Strike to Meteor Strike: Guffey and the Freshwater Mining District". Abstracts of the 29th Annual New Mexico Mineral Symposium. New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  6. Avila, Jim; Berman, Thomas (August 19, 2009). "Bizarre Triple Homicide May Have Been Cult Killing". ABC News. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  7. Eastburn, Kathryn (2007). Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns, and Murder. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306815522.
  8. Denver Post Claire Martin, The Denver Post Published: July 3, 2010
  9. Colorado Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 12th ed. 2015, p. 61 ISBN 0899332889
  10. Peterson, Chris (2002). "The Guffey Meteorite". Cloudbait Observatory. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  11. "Guffey". Meteoritical Bulletin Database. The Meteoritical Society. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
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