Editing Ward, Colorado

{{short description|Town in Colorado, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->
 | name                     = Ward, Colorado
 | nickname                 = 
 | settlement_type          = [[Town]]
 | motto                    = 
<!-- images and maps  ----------->
 | image_skyline            = Ward CO.jpg
 | imagesize                = 
 | image_caption            = 
 | image_map                = File:Boulder County Colorado Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Ward Highlighted 0882735.svg
 | mapsize                  = 250px
 | map_caption              = Location of Ward in Boulder County, Colorado.
<!-- Location ------------------>
 | subdivision_type      = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
 | subdivision_name      = {{USA}}
 | subdivision_type1     = [[U.S. state|State]]
 | subdivision_name1     = {{flag|Colorado}}
 | subdivision_type2     = [[List of counties in Colorado|County]]<ref name=COMun>{{cite web | url = http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html | title = Active Colorado Municipalities | publisher = [[Colorado|State of Colorado]], Department of Local Affairs | access-date = September 1, 2007 | archive-date = December 12, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091212060308/http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/local_governments/municipalities.html | url-status = dead }}</ref>
 | subdivision_name2     = [[Boulder County, Colorado|Boulder County]]
 | subdivision_type3     = 
 | subdivision_name3     = 
<!-- Politics ----------------->
 | government_footnotes  = 
 | government_type       = [[Colorado municipalities#Home rule municipality|Home rule municipality]]<ref name=COMun/>
 | leader_title          = 
 | leader_name           = 
 | established_title     = Founded
 | established_date      = 1860
 | established_title2    = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
 | established_date2     = 
 | established_title3    = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
 | established_date3     = June 9, 1896<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 | access-date = September 2, 2007}}</ref>
<!-- Area    --------------------->
 | unit_pref             = [[Imperial units|Imperial]]
 | area_footnotes        = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_08.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref>
 | area_total_km2        = 1.39
 | area_land_km2         = 1.39
 | area_water_km2        = 0.00
 | area_total_sq_mi      = 0.54
 | area_land_sq_mi       = 0.54
 | area_water_sq_mi      = 0.00
<!-- Population   ----------------------->
 | population_as_of      = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
 | population_footnotes  = 
 | population_note       = 
 | population_total      = 128
 | pop_est_as_of         = 
 | pop_est_footnotes     = 
 | population_est        = 
 | population_density_km2 = 116.08
 | population_density_sq_mi = 300.37
<!-- General information  --------------->
 | timezone              = [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain (MST)]]
 | utc_offset            = -7
 | timezone_DST          = [[Mountain Time Zone|MDT]]
 | utc_offset_DST        = -6
 | coordinates           = {{coord|40|4|20|N|105|30|50|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
 | elevation_footnotes   = <ref name=gnis/>
 | elevation_ft          = 9462
<!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->
 | postal_code_type      = [[ZIP code]]<ref name=ZIPcode>{{cite web|url = http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp | title = ZIP Code Lookup| format = [[JavaScript]]/[[HTML]] | publisher = [[United States Postal Service]] | access-date=January 8, 2008}}</ref>
 | postal_code           = 80481
 | area_code             = [[Area code 303|303]]
 | blank_name            = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
 | blank_info            = 08-82735
 | blank1_name           = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
 | blank1_info           = 2413449<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2413449}}</ref>
 | website               = {{URL|https://www.ward-co.org/}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024}}
}}

'''Ward''' is a [[Colorado municipalities#Home rule municipality|home rule municipality]] in [[Boulder County, Colorado|Boulder County]], [[Colorado]], United States. The population was 128 at the [[United States Census, 2020|2020 census]]. The town is a former mining settlement founded in 1860 in the wake of the discovery of [[gold]] at nearby [[Gold Hill, Colorado|Gold Hill]]. Once one of the richest towns in the state during the [[Colorado Gold Rush]], it is located on a mountainside at the top of [[Left Hand Canyon]], near the [[Peak to Peak Highway]] ([[Colorado State Highway 72|State Highway 72]]) northwest of [[Boulder, Colorado|Boulder]] at an elevation of {{convert|9450|ft|m|0|sp=us}} above sea level.

==History==
[[Image:View of Ward, Colorado from below along Lefthand Canyon Road.jpg|left|thumb|View of Ward from below along Lefthand Canyon Road]]

The town was named for Calvin Ward, who [[Prospecting|prospected]] a claim in 1860 on the site known as Miser's Dream.<ref>Eberhart, Perry (1959). ''Guide to the Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps'', p. 100. Denver: Sage Books.</ref> The town boomed the following year with the discovery by Cyrus W. Deardorff of the Columbia vein. Over the next several decades the population fluctuated, growing from several hundred to several thousand before declining once again. The mines in the area remained profitable for many decades, with one mine eventually producing over {{convert|2|e6ozt|MT}} of [[silver]]. A [[post office]] with the name Ward District was established January 13, 1863; the name was changed to Ward, September 11, 1894.<ref>Bauer, William H., Ozment, James L., Willard, John H. (1990) ''Colorado Post Offices, 1869&ndash;1989'', p. 148. Golden, Colorado: The Colorado Railroad Museum. {{ISBN|0-918654-42-4}}.</ref>  The city was incorporated in June 1896. The railroad reached the area in 1898, arriving over the Whiplash and Switzerland Trail, which climbed over {{convert|4,000|ft|m}} from Boulder over the course of {{convert|26|mi|km}}. In January 1900 over 50 buildings were destroyed by a devastating fire, although the profitability of the mines led to the immediate rebuilding of the town. The town was largely deserted by the 1920s, but the construction of the Peak-to-Peak Highway in the 1930s led to a revival of the town. During WWII the town's year-round population dropped to four people. Then, in the 1960s, the town's population jumped from between 10 and 20 year-round residents to well over 100 due to the town's interest to hippies.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

The town has several businesses along its main street, including a restaurant, a coffee shop, an art gallery, and general store.

==Geography==

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|0.6|sqmi|km2}}, all of it land.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1890= 424
|1900= 300
|1910= 129
|1920= 74
|1930= 34
|1940= 118
|1950= 10
|1960= 9
|1970= 32
|1980= 129
|1990= 159
|2000= 169
|2010= 150
|2020= 128
|estyear=
|estimate=
|estref=
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2010, there were 150 people, 75 households, and 36 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|296.9|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 82 housing units at an average density of {{convert|144.1|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units&nbsp;|units|}}. The racial makeup of the town was 98.82% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], and 1.18% from two or more races.

[[Image:DSCN2862 wardmainstreet e 600.jpg|left|thumb|Businesses in Ward]]

There were 75 households, out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 52% were non-families. 37.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2 and the average family size was 2.67.

The age of the town's populace was spread out, with 19.3% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 32% from 25 to 44, 35.3% from 45 to 64, and 8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 154.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 132.7 males.

In 2000, the median income for a household in the town was $33,750, and the median income for a family was $50,313. Males had a median income of $26,250 versus $28,750 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $14,900. None of the population or families were below the [[poverty line]].
{{clear}}

==Notable people==
*[[Hazel Schmoll]], botanist

==See also==
{{Portal|Colorado}}
*[[Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO Combined Statistical Area]]
*[[Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area]]
*[[Roosevelt National Forest]]
*[[2013 Colorado floods]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cmca.gen.co.us/Municipality.cfm?MunicipalityID=226 Town contacts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418094230/http://www.cmca.gen.co.us/Municipality.cfm?MunicipalityID=226 |date=April 18, 2008 }}
*[http://dtdapps.coloradodot.info/staticdata/Downloads/CityMaps/WARD.pdf CDOT map of Ward]
*[http://ward-colorado.20megsfree.com/ Ward, Colorado: a slice of Appalachia in the Rockies]
*[http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/co/ward.html Ghosttowns.com: Ward, Colorado]
*[http://wardcolorado.googlepages.com Ward, Colorado, a revitalized gold-mining ghost town]

{{Boulder County, Colorado}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Colorado]]
[[Category:Towns in Boulder County, Colorado]]