Welcome to Blanca ...
The town of Blanca is located in Costilla County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Blanca, you might consider that their post office opened in 1894.
The town was incorporated May 18, 1910.
From Place Names in Colorado,<2> the origin of Blanca is described as "Spanish for 'white'. Named for nearby Mount Blanca."
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Blanca has a population of 413 people<3> (see below for details).
Blanca is 7,760 feet [2,365 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Blanca is about 1½ mile [or ~2¼ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: Blanca lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Blanca lies within the (719) area code.
The ZIP code for Blanca: 81123<5>
Websites for Blanca ...
Official Website: www.fone.net/~blancaco/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Blanca had an population of 413 people. This is an increase of 7.27% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 5.63% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Blanca had a population of 385 people (which is 10.93% of the total population of Costilla County). This makes Blanca the county's 2nd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 385 people, the population of Blanca decreased 1.53% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 391 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Blanca.
Communities near Blanca ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Blanca.
- San Luis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Luis have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Luis
- San Luis is located in Costilla County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 692 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Luis <7>
- Fort Garland
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Garland
- Fort Garland is located in Costilla County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Garland <7>
- Garland City ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garland City have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland City
- Garland City is located in Costilla County
- Russell ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
- Russell is located in Costilla County
- San Acacio
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Acacio
- San Acacio is located in Costilla County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Acacio <7>
- Alamosa East
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Alamosa East. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamosa East
- Alamosa East is located in Alamosa County
- Alamosa
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alamosa
- Alamosa is located in Alamosa County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 9,367 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alamosa <7>
- Chama
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chama have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chama
- Chama is located in Costilla County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chama <7>
- San Pablo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Pablo have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pablo
- San Pablo is located in Costilla County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for San Pablo <7>
- Uptop ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uptop
- Uptop is located in Huerfano 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 Blanca. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Blanca.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Blanca. 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 Blanca.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Blanca. See our Newspapers Page for Blanca.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Blanca ...
Looking for more information about Blanca? 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 Blanca, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Blanca.
Adding Blanca to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Blanca 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 Blanca was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
From that list, the Blanca post office opened in 1894.
We also found Blanca in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Blanca.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Blanca: www.fone.net/~blancaco/
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 Costilla, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Blanca. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Blanca - 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 Blanca). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Blanca or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <9> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |