Crestone, Colorado
The Town of Crestone is a Statutory Town in Saguache County, Colorado. According to the 2020 United States Census, the town's population was 141. Crestone is located at the foot of the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range, in the northern part of the San Luis Valley. Crestone was platted in 1880 by George Adams, owner of the neighboring Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4. In the 1970s, the Baca Grande land development was established on the lands of the Baca Grant to the south and west. Several hundred homes have been built there .
Crestone, Colorado | |
|---|---|
Statutory Town | |
| Town of Crestone | |
Welcome sign on Birch Street, | |
Location of the Town of Crestone in the Saguache County, Colorado. | |
Crestone Location of the Town of Crestone in the United States. | |
| Coordinates: 37°59′40″N 105°41′47″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Colorado |
| County | Saguache County |
| Incorporated | January 24, 1902 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Statutory Town |
| • Mayor | Kairina Danforth |
| • Town Clerk | Allyson Ransom |
| • Treasurer | Lisa Cyriacks |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.385 sq mi (0.996 km2) |
| • Land | 0.385 sq mi (0.996 km2) |
| • Water | 0.000 sq mi (0.000 km2) |
| Elevation | 7,923 ft (2,415 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 141 |
| • Density | 367/sq mi (142/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| ZIP Code | 81131 |
| Area code | 719 |
| FIPS code | 08-18420 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0192409 |
| Highways | Take County Road T 12 miles east from State Highway 17 at Moffat |
| Website | townofcrestone |
The Crestone area, which includes the Baca Grande and Moffat, Colorado, is a spiritual center for some religions, including a Hindu temple, a Zen center, several Tibetan Buddhist centers, and miscellaneous New Age happenings. Much of this spiritual development was catalyzed by the couple Hanne and Maurice Strong in the 1970s, who set out to make it an interfaith center.
Crestone is named for the 14,000-foot peaks that lie just east of the town: Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle. The Crestones, as they are known collectively, in turn, took their name from the Spanish word crestón, which, according to Walter Borneman and Lyndon Lampert's book A Climbing Guide to Colorado’s Fourteeners, means: “the top of a cock’s comb”; “the crest of a helmet”; or, in miners’ jargon, “an outcropping of ore”.