Creede, Colorado
Town in the United States in Mineral County
About Creede
The City of Creede is the statutory town that is the county seat of Mineral County, Colorado, United States. It is the most populous community and the sole surviving incorporated municipality in the county. The town population was 257 at the 2020 United States census.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Creede is governed
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0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.
Residents of Creede
Registered voters elect the officials below.
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Mayor
Executive
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The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
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City Manager / Administrator
Executive
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The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
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Police Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the police department.
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Fire Chief
Administration & departments
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Leads the fire and emergency services department.
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Public Works Director
Administration & departments
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Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
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Finance Director
Administration & departments
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The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
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Planning & Zoning Director
Administration & departments
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Land use, zoning, building permits.
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Parks & Recreation Director
Administration & departments
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Parks, programs, and public facilities.
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City Council
Legislative
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The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
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City Clerk
Administration & departments
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Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
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City Attorney
Administration & departments
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The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
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Boards & Commissions
Legislative
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Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
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Municipal Court
Judicial
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Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
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Municipal Judge
Judicial
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Presides over the municipal court.
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Population over time
From 290 in 2010 to 257 in 2020 (−11.4%).
Show the numbers
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 257 |
| 2010 | 290 |
History
Before the Territory of Colorado was created in 1861, all of what is now western Colorado was occupied by the Nuche, commonly known as the Ute people. In 1866, Kit Carson, Ouray, and Nicaagat negotiated a treaty that in 1868 created the Ute Indian Reservation comprising all land in the Colorado Territory west of the 107th meridian west and south of the 40th parallel north: 25,780 square miles (66,800 km2) or about 25% of Colorado. In 1869, White prospectors, illegally trespassing on the reservation, discovered silver in the San Juan Mountains. Seeking to open the San Juan Mountains to mining, the Brunot Agreement, ratified by Congress on April 24, 1874, forced the Ute people to cede 5,780 square miles (15,000 km2) in the San Juan Mountains. Buoyed by renewed mining, Colorado was admitted to the Union as the 38th State on August 1, 1876.
In the summer of 1889, prospector Nicholas C. Creede (nee William Harvey) discovered "indications of silver" along Willow Creek in eastern Hinsdale County, and on June 26, 1890, Creede and G.L. Smith staked the Holy Moses mining claim. Several silver mining camps soon sprang up in the gulch, and the Creede Mining District was created in 1891.
On May 12, 1891, the Willow, Colorado, post office opened, but on July 1, 1891, the name was changed to Creede, Colorado. On January 25, 1892, the Amethyst, Colorado, post office opened near the Amethyst Mine at Jimtown just 1.1 miles (1.8 km) south of the Creede post office. The population of the area soon exceeded 7,000.
The two Creedes
In 1892, two rival municipalities named Creede were incorporated adjacent to one another in the Creede Mining District. On March 19, 1892, the Town of Creede was incorporated in the area around the Creede post office. On June 13, 1892, the rival City of Creede was incorporated in the area around the Amethyst post office.
On March 27, 1893, the Colorado legislature created Mineral County from portions of Hinsdale, Saguache, and Rio Grande counties. The legislature initially named the Wason camp as the original seat of the new county, but on November 7, 1893, county voters selected the City of Creede as the Mineral County Seat instead. However, the City of Creede continued to use its Amethyst postal address.
In an attempt to avoid further confusion, the United States Post Office Department changed the name of the Creede post office to North Creede, Colorado, on November 28 1908, and changed the name of the Amethyst post office to Creede, Colorado, on February 9, 1909.
As silver mining declined, both municipalities lost population, and in 1916, the City of Creede became a statutory town, but continued to use the appellation City of Creede to distinguish itself from its northern rival. On April 15, 1919, the North Creede post office closed, and the Town of Creede soon ceased operation. It was not until July 23, 2026, that the Colorado Secretary of State declared the Town of Creede abandoned.
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) uses the name "Town of the City of Creede" to identify the county seat and sole surviving municipality of Mineral County.
There is no night in Creede
In the 19th century, Creede was the last silver boom town in Colorado. It leapt from a population of 600 in 1889 to more than 10,000 in December 1891. The Creede mines operated continuously from 1890 until 1985, and were served by the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.
While Creede was booming, the capital city of Denver, Colorado was experiencing a reform movement against gambling clubs and saloons. Numerous owners of gambling houses in Denver relocated to Creede's business district. One of these was confidence man Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith. Soapy became the uncrowned king of Creede's criminal underworld, and opened the Orleans Club. Other famous people in Creede were Robert Ford (the man who killed outlaw Jesse James), Bat Masterson, and William Sidney "Cap" Light (the first deputy sheriff in Creede, and brother-in-law of Soapy Smith). On June 5, 1892, a fire destroyed most of the business district. Three days later, on June 8, Ed O'Kelley walked into Robert Ford's makeshift tent-saloon and shot him dead. The town of Creede was incorporated on June 13, 1892. The anti-gambling movement in Denver had ceased, and the Denver businessmen moved back to their former areas of operation.
Creede's boom lasted until 1893, when the Silver Panic hit the silver mining towns in Colorado. The price of silver plummeted, and most of the silver mines were closed. Creede never became a ghost town, although the boom was over and its population declined. After 1900, Creede stayed alive by relying increasingly on lead and zinc in the ores. Total production through 1966 was 58 million ozt (1,800 t) of silver, 150 thousand ozt (4.7 t) of gold, 112 thousand metric tons of lead, 34 thousand metric tons of zinc, and 2 million metric tons of copper.
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