Del Norte, CO

Del Norte is the statutory town and county seat of Rio Grande County, in Colorado's San Luis Valley. The 2020 census counted 1,458 residents. The town's formal story begins in 1871, when a group of men used a mariner's compass to lay out the settlement; incorporation followed in 1872, and Rio Grande County was created two years later. The name comes from Rio Grande del Norte, the older name for the river known as the great river of the north. Del Norte grew quickly after gold was found in the Summit District, becoming an outfitting point for mines in the San Juan mountains.

ATTRJeffrey Beall / CC BY 4.0

That mining boom left behind a town center with more layers than its size suggests. The Rio Grande County Museum, King's Daughters' Library, old churches, adobe homes, and the former Del Norte Lumber Company all appear on the town's historical tour. U.S. 160 carries the main east-west traffic, while the river and South Mountain help set the wider view. Del Norte still handles county-seat work for the valley, but its older identity is easy to spot in the buildings and streets around the center. It is a high-country town that started with a compass, found its purpose in the mines, and kept the county's history close to the courthouse and river.