Lake George, Colorado

Lake George, Colorado
Unincorporated community
Coordinates: 38°58′49″N 105°21′28″W / 38.98028°N 105.35778°W / 38.98028; -105.35778Coordinates: 38°58′49″N 105°21′28″W / 38.98028°N 105.35778°W / 38.98028; -105.35778
Country  United States
State  Colorado
County Park[1]
Elevation[1] 7,992 ft (2,436 m)
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code[2] 80827
GNIS feature ID 0191146
Post office and store in Lake George, early 1900s

Lake George is an unincorporated community and a U.S. Post Office in Park County, Colorado, United States. The Lake George Post Office has the ZIP Code 80827.[2] It lies along U.S. Highway 24 northwest of Colorado Springs, and several miles north of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.[3]

History

About 42.3 miles (68.1 km) northwest of Colorado Springs and 7.3 miles (11.7 km) northwest of Florissant,[4] the town of Lake George was established in 1891[5] as a railroad stop for the Colorado Midland Railway (CM)[6] which had been completed in 1887.[7] The town and nearby lake—to its west and fed by the South Platte River—The man made lake was built by George Frost for the purpose of supplying ice to the railroad. The lake, originally called George's Lake was later changed to Lake George when the post office opened. The lake itself freezes mostly solid in the wintertime, which made it ideal for railroad men to cut large blocks of ice from it in order to keep perishables cool. A privately owned ice company here supplied the needs of much of the Pikes Peak region. Ice cut during the winter was shipped on the CM to both Colorado Springs and the Cripple Creek, Colorado district.[8] Also related to the town's railroading history, a short walk into the surrounding hills reveals Chinese bread ovens, from the period their labor was imported. At the turn of the century the community's population was 30.[8] After 1900 some farmers and ranchers nearby began raising high-altitude potatoes on a limited scale. This furnished the CM with some additional traffic.[8] However, the CM closed in August 1918. Other railways then provided service to certain shippers along the otherwise idle CM railway.[9] Up to that time this had been the shortest rail route through the mountains. Keeping the track open during winter proved expensive, and when the mining of ore dwindled, the tracks were torn up. U.S. Highway 24 follows the abandoned grade of the CM railway.[10] By 1941 the community had grown to 100 persons and was the center of an extensive potato growing area.[10] The community's population in 1965 was 100.[8]

The just under-140,000-acre (570 km2) Hayman Fire, the largest fire in Colorado's recorded history, was started near Lake George on June 8, 2002.[11][12]

A tornado caused minor damage in the Lake George area on Aug. 18, 2009. An additional tornado caused damage to cabins in 2014. (Needs citation) [13][14]

Geography

Lake George is located at 38°58′49″N 105°21′28″W / 38.98028°N 105.35778°W / 38.98028; -105.35778 (38.980229,-105.357685).

Nearby is Camp Alexander,[15] the Scout camp for Pikes Peak Council, as well as the Elevenmile Reservoir.[16]

See also

Lake George, the town's eponymous lake

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake George, Colorado.
  1. 1 2 "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  2. 1 2 "ZIP Code Lookup" (JavaScript/HTML). United States Postal Service. December 28, 2006. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
  3. ↑ Rand McNally. The Road Atlas '06. Chicago: Rand McNally, 2006, p. 40.
  4. ↑ Colorado State Planning Commission (1941). Colorado: A Guide to the Highest State. Hastings House. p. 231.
  5. ↑ "Park County, Colorado Towns & Places". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  6. ↑ "Colorado Midland Railway". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  7. ↑ Cafky, Morris (1965). Colorado Midland. Rocky Mountain Railroad Club. p. 16.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Cafky , p. 289. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ↑ Cafky , p. 186. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. 1 2 Colorado State Planning Commission , p. 231. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ "Area will take 600 years to recover from huge wildfire". Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  12. ↑ ""Lake George - A Call To Action " by Susan Lamphear". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  13. ↑ "Tornado touches down in Park County". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  14. ↑ "Tornado less than 1.5 miles away from campsite!". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  15. ↑ "Camp Alexander". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
  16. ↑ "Elevenmile Reservoir". Retrieved 2009-09-03.
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