BlockBefore

Penrose, Colorado

24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Penrose-Portland census division. It lies in ZIP code area 81240. The Survey maps it on the Florence quadrangle. 3,685 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,338 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Penrose within Fremont County

Population over time

2 figures

Penrose grew from 3,582 to 3,685 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
20103,582
20203,685+103 (+3%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 24 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

67 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 67 fires within 5 miles of Penrose between 1992 and 2020, burning about 121 acres in total. 4 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined41
Recreation and ceremony9
Equipment and vehicle use5
Natural4
Smoking4
Debris and open burning3
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
24 September 2016Equipment and vehicle useunder an acrePenrose Volunteer Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
20 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWilliamsburg Volunteer Fire Department (Florence Fire Protection District)UNKNOWN
7 August 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWilliamsburg Volunteer Fire Department (Florence Fire Protection District)UNKNOWN
28 August 2016Naturalunder an acrePenrose Volunteer Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
18 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePenrose Volunteer Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
16 August 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acrePenrose Volunteer Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
12 August 2016Recreation and ceremony1.5 acresPenrose Volunteer Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN
27 July 2016Equipment and vehicle use5.0 acresPenrose Volunteer Fire DepartmentUNKNOWN

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Fremont County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 14 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 14 workings within 5 miles of Penrose: 9 producers, 3 occurrences, 1 past producer, 1 unknown. 9 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Clay, Gold. 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
Artesian Well #22GeothermalProducer
Hoyt Adkins Ranch Anomaly 3UraniumOccurrence
Unidentified Placer OccurrenceGoldOccurrencePlacer
UnknownLimestone, GeneralProducerLimestone
UnknownGypsum-AnhydriteUnknown
Beaver CreekClayProducer
Siloam Operation PitClayProducer
Gravel PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Portland Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Fremont County

Storms near this place

44 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Penrose in 44 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 27 hail, 6 flash flood, 3 tornado, 3 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 2006Flash FloodPenrose$2,000,000Four to 6 inches of rain fell in approximately 2 hours on already saturated ground and caused significant flash flooding over a part of eastern Fremont county. The drainage basins of Beaver, Brush Hollow and Eightmile Creeks were overwhelmed, while several roads (County Roads 123 and 132, Phantom Canyon Road, State Highway 115) and bridges were washed out or damaged. Brush Hollow Creek was particularly destructive, overwhelming the culvert at State Highway 115 between Penrose and Florence. For a time, the fast flowing water was over 200 yards wide across the road. That portion of Highway 115 over the culvert was completely destroyed and remained closed for six weeks. County Road 123 was severely damaged by Eightmile Creek. All the water from the Eightmile and Brush Hollow drainage basins emptied into the Arkansas River upstream from the Portland River gage. The resulting river rise was extraordinary, in fact, a record crest for that part of the Arkansas River...13 feet. The gage's instruments were completely submerged, for a time, and debris nearly destroyed the gage. Severe flooding occurred on Beaver Creek, which empties into the Arkansas River downstream of the Portland gage. A paleo-hydrologist with the USGS in Denver estimated that Beaver Creek went from a trickle to about 13 feet in less than 15 minutes...a true "wall of water" flash flood.
June 2002LightningPenrose$30,000no account filed
June 2004Tornado (F0)Penrose$1,000A tornado caused some minor damage to fencing.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindPenrose-A MESONET station (CO132 050E290), near Penrose, reported a measured wind gust of 56 kts.
June 2023HailPenrose-Reported by the public.
May 2021Heavy RainPenrose-Heavy rain of 1.62 inches, 3 miles south Penrose.
May 2021Heavy RainPenrose-Heavy rain of 1.70 inches, Penrose.
July 2019Heavy RainPenrose-Public in Pennrose reported 1.43 inches of rain within an hour.
June 2015Flash FloodPenrose-Heavy rain caused water over six inches deep across Highway 115 and other county roads.
June 2015Flash FloodPenrose-Highway 115 and other county roads had water deeper than six inches.
September 2013FloodPenrose-Heavy rain northwest of Penrose caused the Arkansas River at the Portland gage to go above flood stage.
September 2003Tornado (F0)Penrose-A weak tornado over open country of extreme eastern Fremont county caused no known damage. It passed into extreme western Pueblo county.
August 2001Flash FloodPenrose-Thunderstorms produced an estimated 5 inches of rain in around 3 hours over the extreme northeast portion of Fremont county. This excessive rainfall produced flooding of some roads...arroyos and streams.
August 1999Flash FloodPenrose-Flooding occurred along Beaver Creek. Debris jams aggravated the flooding.
June 1997FloodPenrose-Heavy rain in the Red Creek and Beaver Creeks drainage basins caused the creeks to flood from their source to the Arkansas River. Some campers and residents had to be evacuated, but no known widespread damage to property occurred.
June 1997Tornado (F0)Penrose-An off-duty Custer county sheriff deputy reported a brief tornado on the edge of Penrose in an open field. There was no known damage.
July 2023HailPenrose-no account filed
July 2023HailPenrose-no account filed
July 2023HailPenrose-no account filed
May 2020HailPenrose-no account filed
July 2018HailPenrose-no account filed
August 2017HailPenrose-no account filed
August 2016HailPenrose-no account filed
May 2014HailPenrose-no account filed
June 2014HailPenrose-no account filed
June 2014HailPenrose-no account filed
June 2014HailPenrose-no account filed
September 2013Flash FloodPenrose-no account filed
August 2008HailPenrose-no account filed
August 2008HailPenrose-no account filed
August 2008HailPenrose-no account filed
August 2008HailPenrose-no account filed
May 2007HailPenrose-no account filed
May 2007HailPenrose-no account filed
May 2007HailPenrose-no account filed
May 2007HailPenrose-no account filed
June 2007HailPenrose-no account filed
June 2003HailPenrose-no account filed
July 2003HailPenrose-no account filed
June 2001HailPenrose-no account filed
July 2001HailPenrose-no account filed
August 2001HailPenrose-no account filed
September 2000Thunderstorm WindPenrose-no account filed
October 1994HailPenrose-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Fremont 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
Portland2.3 miles24
Concrete3.2 miles23
Florence5.6 miles24
Williamsburg7.5 miles24
Coal Creek8.0 miles23
Rockvale8.4 miles23
Brookside9.0 miles24
Adelaide10.0 miles21

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 PenroseAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2290504The 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 192038. 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.