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Welcome to Durango ...

The city of Durango is located in La Plata County<1> and is the County Seat for La Plata County.



While we don't have a date for the founding of Durango, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1880.

The city was incorporated April 27, 1881.

When the people of Durango refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Durangoite<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Durango has a population of 19,571 people<3> (see below for details).

Durango is 6,850 feet [2,088 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Durango is about 1¼ mile [or ~2 km] above sea level.

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

Durango lies within the (970) area code.

The ZIP codes for Durango: 81301-81302<5>

Websites for Durango ...

Official Website: www.durangogov.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Durango had an population of 19,571 people. This is an increase of 15.89% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 40.58% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Durango had a population of 16,887 people (or 32.9% of the total population of La Plata County). This makes Durango the county's most populous community.

The population of Durango represents 0.34% of the population of Colorado (which has 5,029,196 people), making it the state's 33rd most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 16,887 people, the population of Durango increased 21.3% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 13,922 people).

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

Communities Also Named Durango ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Durango - they are located in Florida, Iowa and Texas.

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

Communities near Durango ...

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

  • Bayfield
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bayfield have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayfield
    • Bayfield is located in La Plata County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,586 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bayfield <7>
  • Ignacio
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Florida
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida
    • Florida is located in La Plata County
  • Hesperus
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Hermosa
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermosa
    • Hermosa is located in La Plata County
  • Fort Lewis ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Lewis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lewis
    • Fort Lewis is located in La Plata County
  • Gem Village
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gem Village
    • Gem Village is located in La Plata County
  • Rockwood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
    • Rockwood is located in La Plata County
  • Bondad
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bondad have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bondad
    • Bondad is located in La Plata County
  • Marvel
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marvel have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvel
    • Marvel is located in La Plata County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marvel <7>

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 Durango. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Durango.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Durango. 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 Durango.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Durango. Our list includes 40 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Durango.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Durango ...

Looking for more information about Durango? 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 Durango, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Durango.

Adding Durango to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Durango 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 Durango was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>

From that list, the Durango post office opened in 1880.

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

For more details, see References and Mentions for Durango.

The official website for Durango: www.durangogov.org/

The official website for La Plata County: www.co.laplata.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 La Plata, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Durango refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Durango may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Durango.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Durango - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>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 Durango). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Durango or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Durango includes: 81301 & 81302.
<6>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.
<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