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Welcome to Cortez ...

The city of Cortez is located in Montezuma County<1> and is the County Seat for Montezuma County.


The location of Cortez has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>


While we don't have a date for the founding of Cortez, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1887.

The city was incorporated November 10, 1902.

From Place Names in Colorado,<3> the origin of Cortez is described as "Named for the Spanish conqueror."

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Cortez has a population of 8,754 people<4> (see below for details).

Cortez is 6,180 feet [1,884 m] above sea level.<5> In other words, the altitude of Cortez is about 1¼ mile [or ~1¾ km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Cortez lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Cortez lies within the (970) area code.

The ZIP code for Cortez: 81321<6>

Websites for Cortez ...

Official Website: www.cityofcortez.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Cortez had an population of 8,754 people. This is an increase of 3.21% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 9.74% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Cortez had a population of 8,482 people (which is 33.22% of the total population of Montezuma County). This makes Cortez the county's most populous community.

The population of Cortez represents 0.17% of the population of Colorado (which has 5,029,196 people), making it the state's 53rd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 8,482 people, the population of Cortez increased 6.33% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 7,977 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Cortez.

Communities Also Named Cortez ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 8 communities that are also named Cortez - they are located in California, Florida, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania (2) and Texas.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Cortez.

Communities near Cortez ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Cortez.

  • Mancos
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mancos have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mancos
    • Mancos is located in Montezuma County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,398 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mancos <7>
  • Dolores
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Arriola
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arriola
    • Arriola is located in Montezuma County
  • Lewis
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lewis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lewis
    • Lewis is located in Montezuma County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lewis <7>
  • Towaoc
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Towaoc have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Towaoc
    • Towaoc is located in Montezuma County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Towaoc <7>
  • Yellow Jacket
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • McPhee ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for McPhee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McPhee
    • McPhee is located in Montezuma County
  • Ackmen ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ackmen. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ackmen
    • Ackmen is located in Montezuma County
  • Pleasant View
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant View have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant View
    • Pleasant View is located in Montezuma County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pleasant View <7>
  • Cahone
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Cortez. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Cortez.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Cortez. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cortez.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Cortez. Our list includes 8 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Cortez.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Cortez ...

Looking for more information about Cortez? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Cortez, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Cortez.

Adding Cortez to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Cortez in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Cortez was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>

From that list, the Cortez post office opened in 1887.

We also found Cortez in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Cortez.

The official website for Cortez: www.cityofcortez.com/

The official website for Montezuma County: www.co.montezuma.co.us/

The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Colorado's counties, including Montezuma, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>
<4>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Cortez.
<5>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Cortez - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<6>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Cortez). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Cortez or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<9>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 09 Mar 2024