Welcome to Telluride ...
The town of Telluride is located in San Miguel County<1> and is the County Seat for San Miguel County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Telluride, you might consider that their post office opened in 1880.
The town was incorporated February 10, 1887.
When the people of Telluride refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Tellurider<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Telluride has a population of 2,429 people<3> (see below for details).
Telluride is 8,790 feet [2,679 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Telluride is about 1¾ mile [or ~2¾ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: Telluride lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Telluride lies within the (970) area code.
The ZIP code for Telluride: 81435<5>
Going back to its beginning, The community of Telluride was originally named Columbia. For more information about the names of Telluride, see The Names of Telluride on our Genealogy Page.
Websites for Telluride ...
Official Website: www.town.telluride.co.us/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Telluride had an population of 2,429 people. This is an increase of 4.47% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 9.37% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Telluride had a population of 2,325 people (which is 31.59% of the total population of San Miguel County). This makes Telluride the county's most populous community.
The population of Telluride represents 0.05% of the total population of Colorado (which has 5,029,196 people), making it the state's 107th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 2,325 people, the population of Telluride increased 4.68% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 2,221 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Telluride.
Communities Also Named Telluride ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Telluride - they are located in Idaho and Nevada (2).
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Telluride.
Communities near Telluride ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Telluride.
- Ouray
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ouray
- Ouray is located in Ouray County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,046 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ouray <6>
- Ridgway
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridgway
- Ridgway is located in Ouray County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,039 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ridgway <6>
- Silverton
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silverton
- Silverton is located in San Juan County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 679 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silverton <6>
- Ophir
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ophir
- Ophir is located in San Miguel County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 190 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ophir <6>
- Sawpit
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawpit
- Sawpit is located in San Miguel County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 38 people
- Sawpit has also been known as:
- Saw Pit
- Alta ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alta
- Alta is located in San Miguel County
- Vance Junction
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vance Junction have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vance Junction
- Vance Junction is located in San Miguel County
- Chattanooga ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chattanooga
- Chattanooga is located in San Juan County
- Red Mountain ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Mountain
- Red Mountain is located in Ouray County
- Vanadium ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanadium
- Vanadium is located in San Miguel County
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Telluride. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Telluride.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Telluride. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Telluride.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Telluride. Our list includes 16 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Telluride.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Telluride ...
Looking for more information about Telluride? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Telluride, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Telluride.
Adding Telluride to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Telluride in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Telluride was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>
From that list, the Telluride post office opened in 1880.
We also found Telluride in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Telluride.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Telluride: www.town.telluride.co.us/
The official website for San Miguel County: www.sanmiguelcounty.org/
The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Colorado's counties, including San Miguel, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Telluride refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a town's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Telluride may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Telluride. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Telluride - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a town (such as Telluride). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Telluride or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <8> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |