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Cripple Creek, Colorado

26 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Cripple Creek census division. It lies in ZIP code area 80813. It lies near Poverty Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Cripple Creek South quadrangle. 1,155 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 9,495 feet above sea level.

Cripple Creek within Teller County

On record in Cripple Creek

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Cripple Creek fell from 1,189 to 1,155 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,189
20201,155-34 (-3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 26 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

What the histories say of this town

54,930 words

1 chapter about Cripple Creek from the published histories of the county, public domain and reproduced complete.

ChapterFrom Length
The Labor History of the Cripple Creek District : a Study in IndustriaThe Labor History of the Cripple Creek District : a Study in Industrial Evolution (1908)54,930 words in 4 parts

Fires near this place

84 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 84 fires within 5 miles of Cripple Creek between 1992 and 2020, burning about 298 acres in total. 29 started naturally. 5 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined33
Natural29
Railroad operations and maintenance7
Arson/incendiarism5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Debris and open burning2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Fireworks1
Smoking1
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 2009Naturalunder an acreRoyal Gorge Field OfficePISGAH
23 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCripple Creek Fire & Emergency ServicesUNKNOWN
23 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCripple Creek Fire & Emergency ServicesUNKNOWN
6 August 2002Naturalunder an acreRoyal Gorge Field OfficeBARNARD
4 August 2000Naturalunder an acreRoyal Gorge Field OfficePONY GULCH
24 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCripple Creek Fire & Emergency ServicesUNKNOWN
17 August 2019Naturalunder an acreFront Range District OfficeSPRING CANYON
16 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCripple Creek Fire & Emergency ServicesUNKNOWN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Teller County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 512 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 512 workings within 5 miles of Cripple Creek: 487 past producers, 16 producers, 6 occurrences, 2 plants. 18 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Gold, Silver, Fluorine-Fluorite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
C.K. & N. Lode, El Paso, Moon AnchorGold, Silver, TelluriumProducerVein
CaledoniaFeldsparPast ProducerUnderground
Cripple Creek DistrictGold, Semiprecious Gemstone, Antimony, Silver, Mercury, TelluriumProducerCalaverite, Gold, Sylvanite, Turquoise, Krennerite
Florence Lode ClaimGemstoneProducerTurquoise
Gedney TitaniumTitaniumPast Producer
Hull CityGold, Copper, SilverPast Producer
Portland No 2Sand and Gravel, Construction, GoldOccurrence
Ajax MineFluorine-FluoritePast Producer
Flourine Mining Claim Ms#9800Gold, Fluorine-FluoriteProducer
Molly KathleenGold, SilverPast ProducerUnderground

Every working recorded in Teller County

Storms near this place

28 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cripple Creek in 28 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 20 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 lightning, 2 tornado. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2006LightningCripple Creek2 hurtTwo teenage boys were hospitalized after a lightning strike occurred near them on Teller County Road 1 near Cripple Creek. Neither was seriously injured.
May 2015Thunderstorm WindCripple Creek$4,000A severe storm produced damaging microbursts just north of Cripple Creek. Scores of pine and aspen trees were leveled, and there was minor damage to a house and surrounding outbuildings and outdoor furniture. The damage path was around 3/4 of a mile long and at a maximum 750 yards wide.
May 2025HailCripple Creek-Hail up to 1 inch in diameter fell across Teller County from severe thunderstorms.
July 2024HailCripple Creek-Hail size and time is estimated based on a picture from social media.
August 2024Tornado (EF1)Cripple Creek-Damage assessment team confirmed an EF-1 tornado briefly touched down near four mile road. with winds estimated up to 100 mph. The tornado was on the ground for 0.92 miles with an estimated 400 yard wide path of damage. Approximately 300 trees were downed.
May 2023HailCripple Creek-Hail reported in Mueller State Park, posted in a picture on Twitter.
June 2023Tornado (EF0)Cripple Creek-A tornado warning led to Emergency Managers doing an areal survey with a droned owned by the county. There was a loss of roof covering material (<20%) and one single structure with soft and hard wood trees uprooted along the damage path.
August 2017Flash FloodCripple Creek-Flash flooding was noted on County Road 11, where flowing water was more than six inches deep and 100 feet wide for a time.
July 2017Flash FloodCripple Creek-Heavy rain caused flash flooding of County Road 11 and properties in the vicinity. The road sustained only minor damage and was quickly repaired.
July 2017Flash FloodCripple Creek-Another round of rain caused flash flooding northwest of Cripple Creek on County Road 11. No major road damage was reported.
July 2004LightningCripple Creek-A lightning strike caused a 4-hour power outage to most of Cripple Creek. The outage shut down those casinos and other businesses and residences that did not have emergency generators.
July 2023HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2023HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2016HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2010HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2010HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2010HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2009HailCripple Creek-no account filed
June 2007HailCripple Creek-no account filed
June 2007HailCripple Creek-no account filed
June 2007HailCripple Creek-no account filed
August 2004HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2004HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2003HailCripple Creek-no account filed
June 2002HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 2000HailCripple Creek-no account filed
June 1998HailCripple Creek-no account filed
July 1996HailCripple Creek-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Teller County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Fairview1.1 miles26
Anaconda (historical)1.3 miles26
Stratton1.5 miles26
Mound City (historical)1.5 miles26
Beacon Hill1.8 miles26
Midway1.9 miles26
Elkton2.2 miles26
Independence (historical)2.4 miles26

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Cripple CreekAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q117605The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 204769. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.