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Lake City, Colorado

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1903 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Lake City census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81235. It stands on Henson Creek. The Survey maps it on the Lake City quadrangle. 432 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 8,661 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Lake City within Hinsdale County

On record in Lake City

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 4 records

Population over time

3 figures

Lake City fell from 607 to 432 between 1890 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
1890607
2010408
2020432+24 (+6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 20 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.

Fires near this place

16 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 16 fires within 5 miles of Lake City between 1993 and 2019, burning about 3 acres in total. 10 started naturally. None was 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
Natural10
Recreation and ceremony4
Equipment and vehicle use1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined1

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
29 September 2000Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreGrand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National ForestsCRYSTAL LAKE
15 August 2007Naturalunder an acreSouthwest District, MontroseSLUMGULLION CREEK
13 August 2019Naturalunder an acreGrand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National ForestsSPARLING
10 August 2009Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreSouthwest District, MontroseNELLY CREEK
4 July 1997Naturalunder an acreSouthwest District, MontroseLAKE CITY
24 July 2006Naturalunder an acreSouthwest District, MontroseHENSON CREEK
2 July 2017Naturalunder an acreSouthwest District, MontroseWUPPERMAN
17 July 2004Naturalunder an acreGrand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National ForestsLAKE FORK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Hinsdale County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 56 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 56 workings within 5 miles of Lake City: 23 past producers, 22 unknowns, 9 occurrences, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Silver, Silver, Gold, Antimony. 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
Belle of the WestGold, Copper, Lead, SilverPast Producer
Belle of the West MineSilver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc, AntimonyPast Producer1959
Black CrookLead, Zinc, Arsenic, Gold, SilverUnknown
Contention MineSilver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Manganese, AntimonyPast ProducerVein
Eckman Manganese DepositManganese, IronOccurrence
Fanny Fern MineSilver, Gold, Lead, Copper, Zinc, AntimonyPast Producer1952
Fanny Fern MineGold, Lead, Silver, CopperUnknown
GalenaLead, Silver, ZincUnknown
Gladiator MineSilver, Gold, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Manganese, AntimonyPast ProducerVein
Gold Quartz MineGold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Antimony, Zinc, TelluriumPast Producer1951

Every working recorded in Hinsdale County

Storms near this place

13 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lake City in 13 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 4 flash flood, 3 debris flow, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. The reports record 1 death and 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
June 2019FloodLake City1 killedA woman was swept into Pole Creek while trying to cross the stream with her husband in a Jeep. She was missing for almost a month before her body was found along the Rio Grande River on July 25th.
July 2014LightningLake City2 hurt, $300Two ultramarathon runners from Canada were struck by lightning on Handies Peak at about the 14,050 foot level while competing in the 100-mile Handrock Endurance Run. Both men incurred minor injuries. The headlamp of one runner exploded when struck by the lightning.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindLake City$50,000no account filed
July 1996Flash FloodLake City$30,000no account filed
August 2019Debris FlowLake City$5,000Showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain which led to multiple mudslides along County Road 30 near Cinnamon Pass. The road was closed for an extended period of time. Several vehicles were stuck behind the mudslide and the occupants had to be rescued by Search and Rescue.
August 1999Flash FloodLake City$2,000no account filed
August 1999Flash FloodLake City$1,000no account filed
August 2025HailLake City-A strong storm developed 7 miles south-southwest of Lake City producing pea to dime size hail with a few nickel size hailstones around 1045 MST.
August 2024Debris FlowLake City-Colorado Department of Transportation reported the closure of Colorado State Highway 149 at mile marker 74, roughly 1 mile north-northwest of Lake City, due to a mudslide. This area is very steep, and prone to rock and mudslides with either prolonged moderate to heavy rainfall, or short but intense heavy rainfall.
July 2017Heavy RainLake City-Heavy rainfall resulted in a rockslide across Highway 30 between Highway 149 and Lake San Cristobal.
July 2014Flash FloodLake City-Heavy rainfall near Lake City with amounts of over and inch caused flash flooding which closed Highway 149 and deposited a large amount of debris onto the road.
August 2013Debris FlowLake City-A debris flow caused by heavy rainfall closed Highway 149 between mile markers 77 and 79 for several hours.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLake City-Thunderstorm winds gusts estimated up to 60 mph broke off tree limbs up to 3 inches in diameter at Lake City.

Every storm recorded in Hinsdale 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
Henson3.3 miles23
Capitol City (historical)8.2 miles23
Cathedral15.6 miles20

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 Lake CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2278225The 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 188715. 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.