Hugo, Colorado

Hugo, Colorado
Statutory Town
Downtown Hugo, looking northwest along U.S. Highway 40.
Location in Lincoln County and the state of Colorado
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	State of Colorado
County	Lincoln County Seat
Incorporated	June 21, 1909
Government
• Type	Statutory Town
Area
• Total	1 sq mi (2.5 km2)
• Land	1 sq mi (2.5 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	5,039 ft (1,536 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	885
• Density	885/sq mi (354/km2)
Time zone	Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	80821
Area code(s)	719
FIPS code	08-37875
GNIS feature ID	195141
Website	cityofhugoco.org

Hugo is the Statutory Town that is the county seat of Lincoln County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 730 at the U.S. Census 2010.

History

In about 1859 the town was developed as a cattle ranching community to supply miners with provisions. The town was also used as a local stage coach stop.

There are two stories as to how the town obtained its name. One version says the town was named by the Kansas Pacific Railroad builders after pioneer stage agent (Overland company), Hugo Richards. Richards later moved to Prescott, Arizona where he became town banker and businessman. Another story says the town was named for Richard Hugo who was a local settler. The town was founded in 1870, and incorporated in 1909.

Geography

Hugo is located at (39.133520, -103.468089).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), all of which is land. Hugo's elevation is 5,039 ft.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	140		—
1910	343		—
1920	838		144.3%
1930	712		−15.0%
1940	852		19.7%
1950	943		10.7%
1960	811		−14.0%
1970	759		−6.4%
1980	776		2.2%
1990	660		−14.9%
2000	885		34.1%
2010	730		−17.5%
Est. 2014	731		0.1%
U.S. Decennial Census

At of the census of 2000, there were 885 people, 353 households, and 230 families residing in the town. The population density was 917.3 people per square mile (355.9/km²). There were 440 housing units at an average density of 456.0 per square mile (177.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.38% White, 0.79% African American, 1.24% Native American, 0.45% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.84% of the population.

There were 353 households out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 85.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $30,259, and the median income for a family was $36,667. Males had a median income of $29,583 versus $20,536 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,669. About 10.4% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education and Culture

Hugo is served by the Genoa-Hugo School District No. C-113 and includes Genoa-Hugo Elementary School, Genoa-Hugo Middle School and Genoa-Hugo High School. Hugo also has a town public library with about 8,000 volumes, 180 video materials and 100 audio materials. The library is located in the Hugo municipal building. Also Hugo has the Eastern Trails Museum and Cultural Arts Center, the historic Hugo Kansas-Pacific/Union Pacific Roundhouse, the Union Pacific Train Depot Town Museum, and the historic Hedlund House Museum of which are all located in Hugo.

Recreation

Hugo's municipal public park (Hines Park) features a vintage swimming pool which was constructed as a Works Project Administration facility in the 1930s and is designated as a historic site by the National Register of Historic Places. There is also a picnic area, playgrounds, a volleyball court as well as a basketball court. The municipal building has a racquetball court on its grounds. The Coulson Nature Trail is a 2.5-mile wildlife and nature hiking trail on the outskirts of town. Kinney Lake State Wildlife Area is 14 miles south of Hugo, and features a 10-acre lake for fishing and recreation as well as camping and hunting of deer, antelope, rabbit, coyote, waterfowl during the licensed season.

Media

The Eastern Colorado Plainsman is the weekly newspaper serving Hugo and the surrounding communities. It has a weekly circulation of 1,200. There is an FM radio station licensed for Hugo, as well as an AM radio station in Limon — which is about 10 miles northwest of Hugo, and there is a television repeater station and tower in Flagler which is about 12 miles northeast of Hugo.

Notable people

• "Bev" Bledsoe - Colorado's longest serving Speaker of the Colorado State House of Representatives was a rancher from Hugo. Bledsoe, a Republican, was first elected to the state legislature in 1972 and served as Speaker from 1981 to 1991.

See also

• Outline of Colorado
  • Index of Colorado-related articles
• State of Colorado
  • Colorado cities and towns
    • Colorado municipalities
  • Colorado counties
    • Lincoln County, Colorado

External links

• Town of Hugo website
  • CDOT map of the Town of Hugo