The Town of Fraser is a Statutory Town located in Grand County,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

, United States. The town population was 1,400 at the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, a +14.38% increase since the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

. The town is situated in Middle Park in the valley of the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual ...

along U.S. Highway 40. Its location northwest of Winter Park, the location of a popular ski resort, has provided growth in recent years with new

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

and other

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

developments.

History

Fraser was incorporated in 1953. A post office called Fraser has been in operation since 1876. The town derives its name from Reuben Frazer, a pioneer settler.

Geography

Fraser is located in southeastern Grand County at (39.944158, -105.813355), at an elevation of above sea level. It is bordered to the south by the town of Winter Park and to the north by unincorporated

Tabernash Tabernash is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Grand County, Colorado, United States. The Tabernash post office has the ZIP Code 80478. At the United States Census 2010, the p ...

U.S. Route 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes wh ...

leads south and east across Berthoud Pass to

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and northwest to Granby, the largest town in Grand County. At the

, the town had a total area of including of water. The Fraser River passes through the east side of town, flowing northward toward the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

Climate

Fraser, with an annual mean temperature of (or based on another station in town) is one of the coldest incorporated towns in the lower 48 states. It can and does get frost year-round, totaling 287.3 nights under , rivalled only by towns in northern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

, among currently inhabited localities in the United States. The total of 63.4 nights under is also among the highest in the contiguous 48 states, but the 59.9 days with highs not topping freezing is exceeded by substantial areas of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, northern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and the

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

. Both Fraser and

International Falls, Minnesota International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census. International Falls is located on the Rainy River directly acr ...

, have claimed the title "Icebox of the Nation", which has caused conflict between the two towns over the years.Riccardi, Nicholas.
Dueling for 'Icebox of Nation'
." '' Journal Gazette.'' March 5, 2007. Retrieved on March 5, 2007. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system, Fraser has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...

, abbreviated ''Dfc'' on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Fraser is on August 1, 1969, and the coldest on January 10, 1962. The wettest calendar year has been 1957 with and the driest 1944 with , whilst the most precipitation in one month has been in September 1961. Snowfall is naturally heavy at and has ranged up to in February 1936 and from July 1926 to June 1927. A freeze has been recorded for every single date of the year, one of the only locations in the entire United States to hold that record.

Icebox of the Nation

Fraser, Colorado has been in a dispute with International Falls,

since 1956 over use of the trademark "Icebox of the Nation."Towns feud over claim to be nation's 'icebox'
''Associated Press'', January 14, 2008. Retrieved on May 1, 2015. After several years of legal battles, the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

officially registered the slogan with International Falls on January 29, 2008.Trademark Status & Document Retrieval
United States Patent and Trademark Office, ''Accessed May 1, 2015.''

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 910 people, 410 households, and 191 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 622 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 94.51%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.88%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.88% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.22%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.10% from other races, and 1.54% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 3.30% of the population. There were 410 households, out of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.2% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.71. In the town, the population was spread out, with 17.9% under the age of 18, 14.2% from 18 to 24, 46.2% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 3.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 129.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 130.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $38,173, and the median income for a family was $39,643. Males had a median income of $29,583 versus $26,346 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $20,628. About 11.1% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

provides regular service to Fraser and nearby Winter Park (station code: WIP), operating its ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

'' daily in each direction between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

and Emeryville,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. In 2015, Amtrak also resumed seasonal

ski train The ''Winter Park Express'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on winter weekends between Denver Union Station and Winter Park Resort, Colorado. The scenic route uses the same line as the ''California Zephyr'', climbing into the Front R ...

service to the

Winter Park Resort Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at Winter Park. Located in Grand County just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about a ninety-minute drive from Denver. History The mo ...

. The new '' Winter Park Express'' resumed service ski train service that had been provided to resort by

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from D ...

Ski Train The ''Winter Park Express'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on winter weekends between Denver Union Station and Winter Park Resort, Colorado. The scenic route uses the same line as the ''California Zephyr'', climbing into the Front R ...

for nearly 70 years.

References

External links

Town of Fraser websiteCDOT map of the Town of Fraser
{{authority control Towns in Grand County, Colorado Towns in Colorado