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A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
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Welcome to Rio Blanco ...

Rio Blanco is located in Rio Blanco County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Rio Blanco, you might consider that their post office opened in 1899.

Rio Blanco is 7,260 feet [2,213 m] above sea level.<2> In other words, the elevation of Rio Blanco is about 1½ mile [or ~2¼ km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Rio Blanco lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Rio Blanco: 970 & 748<3>

Communities near Rio Blanco ...

We have created a list of 9 communities that are near Rio Blanco.

  • Rifle
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Rifle is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rifle
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,775 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rifle <4>
  • Battlement Mesa
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Meeker
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Meeker is located in Rio Blanco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeker
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,318 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meeker <4>
  • Parachute
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Parachute is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parachute
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,114 people
    • Former name for Parachute:
    • Grand Valley
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parachute <4>
  • Silt
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Silt is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silt
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silt <4>
  • New Castle
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Una
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Una is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Una
  • Chacra
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Chacra is located in Garfield County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chacra
  • White River City
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • White River City is located in Rio Blanco County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White River City

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 Rio Blanco. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Rio Blanco.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Rio Blanco. 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 Rio Blanco.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Rio Blanco. See our Newspapers Page for Rio Blanco.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Rio Blanco ...

Looking for more information about Rio Blanco? 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.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Rio Blanco, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Rio Blanco.

Adding Rio Blanco to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Rio Blanco 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 (so far) for Rio Blanco was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<5>

From that list, the Rio Blanco post office opened in 1899. The Rio Blanco post office closed in 1964.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Rio Blanco.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Colorado's counties, including Rio Blanco, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Rio Blanco - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<3>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 970 code has been Overlayed with the 748 area code. New phone numbers in the Rio Blanco area will be assigned with one of these codes: 970 or 748. As a result, placing a call in the Rio Blanco area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<4>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<5>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/