Editing Calhan, Colorado

{{short description|A statutory town in El Paso County, Colorado, United States.}}
{{infobox settlement
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->
| name                     = Calhan, Colorado
| official_name            = Town of Calhan
|settlement_type           = [[List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town|statutory town]]<ref name=COMun>{{cite web|url=https://dola.colorado.gov/dlg_lgis_ui_pu/publicMunicipalities.jsf|title=Active Colorado Municipalities|publisher=[[Colorado Department of Local Affairs]]|access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref> 
| motto                    = "Highest Incorporated Non-Mountain Town in the U.S."
<!-- images and maps  ----------->
 | image_skyline            = Calhan Colorado by David Shankbone.jpg
 | image_map                = File:El Paso County Colorado Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Calhan Highlighted 0811260.svg
 | mapsize                  = 
 | map_caption              = Location of the Town of Calhan in [[El Paso County, Colorado]]
<!-- Pushpin map -->
|pushpin_map             = USA#USA Colorado
|pushpin_relief          = 
|pushpin_label           = Calhan
|pushpin_label_position  = right
|pushpin_map_caption     = Location of the Town of Calhan, Colorado.
<!-- Location -->
|coordinates             = {{coord|39.0355|-104.2972|type:city_region:US-CO_source:GNIS-193304|name=Calhan, Colorado|display=it}}
|coordinates_footnotes   = <ref name=GNIS>{{cite gnis|id=193304|name=Calhan, Colorado|access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref>
|elevation_ft            = 6536
|elevation_footnotes     = <ref name=GNIS/>
|subdivision_type        = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name        = [[United States]]
|subdivision_type1       = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1       = [[Colorado]]
|subdivision_type2       = [[List of counties in Colorado|County]]
|subdivision_name2       = [[El Paso County, Colorado|El Paso]]<ref name=COcounty>{{cite web|url=https://dola.colorado.gov/dlg_lgis_ui_pu/publicCounties.jsf|title=Colorado Counties|publisher=[[Colorado Department of Local Affairs]]|access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref>
<!-- Politics ----------------->
 | government_footnotes     = 
 | government_type          = [[Colorado municipalities#Statutory town|Statutory town]]<ref name=COMun/>
 | leader_title             = Mayor
 | established_title        = <!-- Settled -->
 | established_date         = 
 | established_title2       = [[municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
 | established_date2        = May 10, 1919<ref name=MuniIncCO>{{cite web | url = http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/muninc.html | title = Colorado Municipal Incorporations | publisher = [[Colorado|State of Colorado]], Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives | date = December 1, 2004 | accessdate = September 2, 2007}}</ref>
<!-- Area --------------------->
 | unit_pref                = US
 | area_footnotes           = <ref name=2020_Census>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/rdo/summary-files.html|title=Decennial Census P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]], [[United States Department of Commerce]]|date=August 12, 2021|access-date=September 7, 2021}}</ref>
 | area_total_km2           = 2.144
 | area_land_km2            = 2.144
 | area_water_km2           = 0.000
<!-- Population ----------------------->
 | population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
 | population_footnotes     = <ref name=2020_Census/>
 | population_total         = 762
 | population_density_sq_mi = 921
<!-- General information -->
|timezone                = [[Mountain Time Zone|MST]]
|utc_offset              = −07:00
|timezone_DST            = [[Mountain Time Zone|MDT]]
|utc_offset_DST          = −06:00
<!-- Area, postal, and other codes -->
|postal_code_type        = [[ZIP code]]<ref name=ZIPcode>{{cite web|url=https://tools.usps.com/zip-code-lookup.htm?bycitystate|title=ZIP Code Lookup|publisher=[[United States Postal Service]]|access-date=April 2, 2025}}</ref>
 | postal_code           = 80808
 | area_code             = 719
|blank_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS pop ID]]
|blank_info              = {{GNIS 4|193304}}
|blank1_name             = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS town ID]]
|blank1_info             = {{GNIS 4|2413149}}
|blank2_name             = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
|blank2_info             = {{FIPS|08|11260}}
 | website               = {{URL|https://www.calhan.co/}}
 | footnotes             = 
 | blank1_name_sec2      = Major Highways
 | blank1_info_sec2      = [[File:US_24.svg|26px|link = U.S. Route 24 in Colorado]]
}}

The '''Town of Calhan''' is a [[List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town|statutory town]] located in [[El Paso County, Colorado]], United States.<ref name=COMun/> The town population was 762 at the [[2020 United States census]].<ref name=2020_Census/> Calhan is a part of the [[Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area]] and the [[Front Range Urban Corridor]]. The town straddles [[U.S. Route 24 in Colorado|U.S. Highway 24]]. With Calhan sitting at an elevation of {{convert|6,535|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above sea level, Calhan is the highest non-mountain town in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uncovercolorado.com/towns/calhan/|title=Calhan, Colorado|publisher=Uncover Colorado|access-date=September 23, 2020}}</ref>

==History==
Calhan was established in 1888 as a water station for the now-defunct [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]], with the first [[steam locomotive]] arriving on November 5, 1888. The town was named by and for Michael Calahan, who had the contract to lay railroad tracks from the [[Colorado]]/[[Kansas]] border to [[Colorado Springs]]. However, when the town's first [[U.S. Post Office]] opened on November 24, 1888, the middle "a" had been dropped and the town was registered as "Calhan."<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of Calhan and Vicinity 1888–1988|date=1987|publisher=Gaddy Printing Company|isbn=0-9619442-0-X|page=10|author=Larry l. King}}</ref> The town was incorporated as a [[Colorado municipalities#Statutory town|statutory town]] in 1919. The town grew quickly, but it was not until 1906 that the [[Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot]] was built to meet the growing needs of the area.

[[File:Calhan Colorado cemetery by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|left|The Calhan cemetery]]
[[Jesse N. Funk]] was a rancher in Calhan when the United States joined the [[First World War]] in 1917. Having enlisted in 1915, [[Private first class|Private]] Funk was sent to [[France]] to support the [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] efforts at the [[Battle of Saint-Mihiel]]. There on October 31, 1918, Funk rescued two wounded officers from [[no man's land]] while under [[machine gun]] fire, for which Funk received the [[Medal of Honor]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Medal of Honor recipients - World War I |work=Medal of Honor citations |publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |date=June 8, 2009 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/worldwari.html |accessdate=August 31, 2020 |archive-date=September 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901074542/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/worldwari.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1993, the [[Orthodox Church in America]] established the Protection of the Holy Virgin community, a female [[Eastern Christian monasticism|monastic]] community. Until they moved further west to [[Lake George, Colorado|Lake George]] in 1995, the monastics rented a home in Calhan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oca.org/parishes/oca-we-boupvm|title=Protection of the Holy Virgin Monastery|publisher=Orthodox Church in America|work=oca.org|access-date=August 31, 2020}}</ref>

==Geography==
At the [[2020 United States census]], the town had a total area of {{convert|2.144|km2|acre|order=flip}}, all of it land.<ref name=2020_Census/>

===Climate===
Calhan has a cold [[semi-arid climate]], characterised by the low levels of rainfall and the cold temperatures.
{{clear|left}}

{{Weather box
|location = Calhan, Colorado
|single line = Y  
|collapsed = yes
|Jan high F = 43
|Feb high F = 45
|Mar high F = 52
|Apr high F = 60
|May high F = 69
|Jun high F = 79
|Jul high F = 86
|Aug high F = 82
|Sep high F = 75
|Oct high F = 63
|Nov high F = 51
|Dec high F = 42
|year high F = 
|Jan low F = 15
|Feb low F = 18
|Mar low F = 25
|Apr low F = 32
|May low F = 42
|Jun low F = 50
|Jul low F = 56
|Aug low F = 55
|Sep low F = 45
|Oct low F = 34
|Nov low F = 23
|Dec low F = 16
|year low F =  
|Jan precipitation inch = 0.23
|Feb precipitation inch = 0.27
|Mar precipitation inch = 0.77
|Apr precipitation inch = 1.48
|May precipitation inch = 2.20
|Jun precipitation inch = 2.28
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.61
|Aug precipitation inch = 2.68
|Sep precipitation inch = 0.97
|Oct precipitation inch = 0.78
|Nov precipitation inch = 0.42
|Dec precipitation inch = 0.27
|year precipitation inch = 
|source 1 = [[The Weather Channel]]<ref name=TWC>{{cite web |title=Average Weather for Castle Rock, CO |publisher=[[The Weather Channel]] |url=http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCO0059 |accessdate=October 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210131003/http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCO0059 |archivedate=December 10, 2012 }}</ref>
|date=November 2013
}}
{{clear|left}}

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|align=left
|1930= 399
|1940= 352
|1950= 375
|1960= 347
|1970= 465
|1980= 541
|1990= 562
|2000= 896
|2010= 780
|2020= 762
|footnote=[[United States census|U.S. Decennial Census]]
}}

As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |accessdate=January 31, 2008 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 896 people, 347 households, and 246 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|1,204.1|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 376 housing units at an average density of {{convert|505.3|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units&nbsp;|units|}}. The racial makeup of the town was 96.99% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.22% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.67% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.22% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.90% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.90% of the population.

There were 347 households, out of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 29.7% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $35,735, and the median income for a family was $50,000. Males had a median income of $32,135 versus $24,659 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $19,266. About 3.7% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.
{{clear|left}}

==Notable people==
* [[Jesse N. Funk]], [[Medal of Honor]], [[World War I]]
* [[Trista Vick-Majors]], Antarctic researcher

==Education==
Students are served by [[Calhan School District RJ-1]].

== Attractions ==
*[[Calhan Rock Island Railroad Depot]]
*[[Calhan Paint Mines Archeological District]]
*The [[El Paso County, Colorado|El Paso County]] Fair
*Calhan Summer Fest, held the Friday before the El Paso County Fair opens
*The annual Homecoming Parade, held in late September/early October
*Annual Christmas Parade of Lights held in December
*El Paso County Speedway

==Transportation==
[[U.S. Route 24 in Colorado|U.S. Highway 24]] runs directly through town. Calhan is served by U.S. 24 as it heads to [[Limon, Colorado|Limon]] from [[Colorado Springs]].

==See also==
{{portal|Geography|History|United States|Colorado}}
*[[Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area]]
*[[Front Range Urban Corridor]]
*[[List of municipalities in Colorado]]
*[[List of populated places in Colorado]]
*[[List of post offices in Colorado]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|auto=yes}}
*[http://calhan.co Town of Calhan website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111206123833/http://chs.calhanschool.org/ Calhan High School]
*[https://www.colorado.gov/ State of Colorado]
**[http://dtdapps.coloradodot.info/staticdata/Downloads/CityMaps/Calhan.pdf CDOT map of the Town of Calhan]
**[https://www.historycolorado.org/ History Colorado]
{{El Paso County, Colorado|collapse_state=expanded}}
{{Colorado}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in El Paso County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Towns in Colorado]]