View of Fairplay and South Park looking south from State Highway 9. The historic buildings of South Park City, an open-air museum, are in the foreground.
A historic gold mining settlement, the town was founded in 1859 during the early days of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush.[9][10] The town was named by settlers who were upset by the generous mining claims given to the earliest prospectors and promised a more equitable system for its residents.[11][12] The town of Fairplay was incorporated in 1872.[13]
Front Street, late 1800sLooking over the town of Fairplay in late 1800s.
It is the largest community in the grassland basin of Colorado known as South Park, sitting on the west edge of the basin at the junction of U.S. Highway 285 and State Highway 9. It is on a hillside just east of the Middle Fork South Platte River, near where Highway 9 ascends the river valley northward to Alma and Hoosier Pass. It is a quiet town, and the roads surrounding it have a low volume of traffic. Although it was founded during the initial placer mining boom, the mines in the area continued to produce gold and silver ore for many decades up through the middle of the 20th century.
The town consists of modern retail businesses along the highway, as well as a historic town on the bluff above the river along Front Street. The northern extension of Front Street along the river has been preserved and has become the site of relocated historic structures as an open-air museum called South Park City, intended to recreate the early days of the Colorado Gold Rush. Most of the residences in town are located on the hillside west of US Highway 285 and east of State Highway 9, in the vicinity of the schools and Park County Courthouse. The majority of the streets in town were finally paved in 2005.
Geography
As of the 2020 United States Census, the town had a total area of 740 acres (2.995 km2) including 5.9 acres (0.024 km2) of water.[4]
Climate
Fairplay has a subarctic or subalpine climate (Koppen: Dfc) given its elevation, with short cool summers, and long, windy and cold winters. Temperature ranges between day and night are large, due to the high elevation, low cloud cover, and dryness of the air.
Climate data for Fairplay Colorado, 1991–2020 normals, 2003-2019 snowfall: 9995ft (3046m)
As of the census[16] of 2000, there were 610 people, 259 households, and 169 families residing in the town. The population density was 576 inhabitants per square mile (222/km2). There were 337 housing units at an average density of 318 per square mile (123/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 93% White, 1.3% African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 2.8% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.9% of the population.
There were 259 households, out of which 32% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51% were married couples living together, 8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34% were non-families. 26% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.8.
Approximately 24% of the town under the age of 18, 8% from 18 to 24, 37% from 25 to 44, 25% from 45 to 64, and 5% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 110 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $50,385, and the median income for a family was $51,980. Males had a median income of $34,290 versus $26,430 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,740. About 6.6% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
Fairplay dredge, 1940s, the largest gold dredge in Colorado
Burro Days
The Burro Days festival is held on the last weekend of July.[17] The event celebrates the town's mining heritage. The main feature of the festival is a 29-mile (46.7 km) burro race over rough terrain and approximately 3,000-ft (914 m) elevation gain from downtown Fairplay to the 13,185-ft (4019 m) summit of Mosquito Pass. Teams consist of one person and one burro. The race takes about five hours to complete; first prize is $1,000. Previously, the first prize included an ounce of gold. There are several other burro races in Colorado; the most notable takes place in Leadville.
The Fairplay event is the World Championship of Burro Racing, an ultra-marathon and the longest burro race in the state.[18] For many years (in the 1960s and early 1970s) the Burro race took place from Leadville to Fairplay, or vice versa, crossing over Mosquito Pass. This followed the route that Father John Lewis Dyer of the Methodist Episcopal Church used for circuit riding and for carrying mail. With time, the rivalry between the two cities ended this cooperative endeavor.[citation needed]
Infrastructure
Transportation
Fairplay is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Gunnison-Denver Outrider line.[19]
Notable people
Sheldon Jackson, Presbyterian missionary who established what is now the South Park Community Presbyterian Church in Fairplay
View of Fairplay and South Park.
In popular culture
Fairplay is widely considered to have inspired the fictional town of South Park, as shown in the adult animated seriesSouth Park. While never mentioning Fairplay specifically, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have confirmed on numerous occasions that the show is based off of the larger Park County, Colorado, in which Fairplay is the largest town.[20] The layout of the fictional town is largely similar to that of Fairplay, with the town’s fictional Main Street serving as the real-life Front Street.
Fairplay is also mentioned in the Season 16 episode of South Park, I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining. In the episode, the four main boys Eric Cartman, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick go ziplining when things take an unexpected turn. When trying to figure out how to get home, Stan suggests taking a boat, stating “We can take a boat, you guys! We can probably take it all the way back to Fairplay!” It is unclear, however, if Stan is referring to the town of South Park or if Fairplay exists as a separate town within the South Park universe.
