Welcome to Crested Butte ...
The town of Crested Butte is located in Gunnison County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Crested Butte, you might consider that their post office opened in 1879.
The town was incorporated July 15, 1880.
From Place Names in Colorado,<2> the origin of Crested Butte is described as "Named because of its resemblance to a cock's comb."
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Crested Butte has a population of 1,654 people<3> (see below for details).
Crested Butte is 8,870 feet [2,704 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the elevation of Crested Butte is about 1¾ mile [or ~2¾ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: Crested Butte lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for Crested Butte: 970
The ZIP codes for Crested Butte: 81224-81225<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Crested Butte had an population of 1,654 people. This is an increase of 11.23% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 8.18% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Crested Butte had a population of 1,487 people (which is 9.72% of the total population of Gunnison County). This makes Crested Butte the county's 2nd most populous community.
The population of Crested Butte represents 0.03% of the population of Colorado (which has 5,029,196 people), making it the state's 123rd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 1,487 people, the population of Crested Butte decreased 2.75% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 1,529 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Crested Butte.
Websites for Crested Butte ...
Official Website: www.crestedbutte-co.gov/
Communities near Crested Butte ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Crested Butte.
- Marble
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marble have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marble
- Marble is located in Gunnison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 140 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marble <7>
- Gothic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gothic
- Gothic is located in Gunnison County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Gothic
- From Crested Butte to Gothic
- Irwin ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Irwin
- Irwin is located in Gunnison County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Irwin
- From Crested Butte to Irwin
- Baldwin ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Baldwin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin
- Baldwin is located in Gunnison County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Baldwin
- From Crested Butte to Baldwin
- Crystal ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal
- Crystal is located in Gunnison County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Crystal
- From Crested Butte to Crystal
- Almont
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Almont have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Almont
- Almont is located in Gunnison County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Almont <7>
- Ashcroft ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashcroft
- Ashcroft is located in Pitkin County
- Former names for Ashcroft:
- Castle Forks City
- Chloride
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Ashcroft
- From Crested Butte to Ashcroft
- Gunnison
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunnison
- Gunnison is located in Gunnison County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,840 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gunnison <7>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Gunnison
- From Crested Butte to Gunnison
- Ruby ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
- Ruby is located in Pitkin County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Ruby
- From Crested Butte to Ruby
- Aspen
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Aspen
- Aspen is located in Pitkin County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,657 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Aspen <7>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Aspen
- From Crested Butte to Aspen
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 Crested Butte. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Crested Butte.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Crested Butte. 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 Crested Butte.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Crested Butte. Our list includes 14 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Crested Butte.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Crested Butte ...
Looking for more information about Crested Butte? 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 Crested Butte, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Crested Butte.
Adding Crested Butte to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Crested Butte 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 Crested Butte was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
X2X - From that list, the Crested Butte post office opened in 1879.
We also found Crested Butte in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Crested Butte.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Crested Butte: www.crestedbutte-co.gov/
The official website for Gunnison County: www.co.gunnison.co.us/
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 Gunnison, 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 Crested Butte. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Crested Butte - 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 Crested Butte). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Crested Butte or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Crested Butte includes: 81224 & 81225. |
| <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/ |