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History · Mount Crested Butte

Mount Crested Butte was first counted by the census in 1980

Most of Mount Crested Butte was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1980.

1980first census
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Mount Crested Butte’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Mount Crested Butte began

When was Mount Crested Butte founded?

1980

Mount Crested Butte first appears in the census in 1980.

First census: 272 in 19802020 census: 94146 years
Founding year: the first census.

What stands out about Mount Crested Butte’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18884 editions of the USGS map, 1888 to 2001. Watch Mount Crested Butte change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Mount Crested Butte’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Crested Butte’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMount Crested Butte from Base Area: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Mount Crested Butte on the map, 1888 to 2001

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mount Crested Butte. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Mount Crested Butte on the 1888 USGS mapMount Crested Butte on the 1893 USGS mapMount Crested Butte on the 1961 USGS mapMount Crested Butte on the 2001 USGS map1888Crested Butte sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Mount Crested Butte.

The story so far

Mount Crested Butte, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mount Crested Butte yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Mount Crested Butte is a home rule municipality in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. Mount Crested Butte is the home of the Crested Butte Mountain Resort. The population was 941 at the 2020 census. ZIP code 81225 serves post office boxes for Mount Crested Butte and for neighboring Crested Butte; mail must be addressed to Crested Butte.

Its first post office opened in 1980. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 801 to 941 (+17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Mount Crested Butte, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Mount Crested Butte from Base AreaDate?Mount Crested Butte from Base Area
Today10 recent
High-country residences in Gunnison County in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, along the alpine, dirt Washington Gulch …2015High-country residences in Gunnison County in the Roc…Rainbow over Outrun, Crested Butte, Colorado2014Rainbow over Outrun, Crested Butte, ColoradoCrested Butte Mountain Resort, Crested Butte, Colorado2014Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Crested Butte, ColoradoWelcome to Mt Crested Butte sign2012Welcome to Mt Crested Butte signMount Crested Butte ski area sign2012Mount Crested Butte ski area signTown of Mt. Crested Butte2010Town of Mt. Crested ButteMount Crested Butte, Colorado2010Mount Crested Butte, ColoradoMt Crested Butte, CO, USA2009Mt Crested Butte, CO, USACrested Butte Ski Area2007Crested Butte Ski AreaCrested Butte 2006-07-152006Crested Butte 2006-07-15
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Mount Crested Butte from Base Area
Retake this viewMount Crested Butte from Base Area

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Mount Crested Butte’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Mount Crested Butte, census by census

02004006008001,000198020002020941

Grew from 272 people in 1980 to 941 in 2020, 3 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Crested Butte’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Mount Crested Butte

Nobody well known was born in Mount Crested Butte itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
G
Gabe NewellAmerican computer programmer and businessman · b. 1962
Terence McKennaAmerican ethnobotanist and mystic · b. 1946
P
Paolo BacigalupiAmerican science fiction and fantasy writer · b. 1972
Heidi MontagAmerican television personality · b. 1986
Alex FerreiraAmerican freestyle skier · b. 1994
A
Alexi GrewalRacing cyclist · b. 1960

Questions about Mount Crested Butte’s history

What year was Mount Crested Butte founded?

The Mount Crested Butte post office opened in 1980, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.