# San Miguel County, Colorado

San Miguel County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,072. The county seat is Telluride. The county is named for the San Miguel River.

## History

San Miguel County was given the Spanish language name for "Saint Michael" due to the nearby San Miguel River. On February 27, 1883, Ouray County was split to form San Miguel County. Originally the San Miguel County portion was to retain the name Ouray County with the new portion called Uncompahgre County.
Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area of Colorado formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in 1903, as a direct result of a Western Federation of Miners proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for the eight-hour day, which had been approved in a referendum by 72 percent of Colorado voters. The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan counties. The SJDMA refused to consider any reduction in hours or increase in wages, helping to provoke a bitter strike.
In 1875, the Smuggler gold vein was discovered near Telluride. The Smuggler-Union, Tomboy, and Liberty Bell mines combined produced over a hundred tons of gold by 1920, third in the state of Colorado.$^{:51,83}$

## Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,289 square miles (3,340 km$^2$), of which 1,287 square miles (3,330 km$^2$) is land and 2.0 square miles (5.2 km$^2$) (0.2%) is water.

### Adjacent counties

* Montrose County - north
* Ouray County - east
* San Juan County - southeast
* Dolores County - south
* San Juan County, Utah - west

### Major highways

* State Highway 62
* State Highway 141
* State Highway 145

### National protected areas

* Lizard Head Wilderness
* Mount Sneffels Wilderness
* Old Spanish National Historic Trail
* Telluride National Historic District
* Uncompahgre National Forest

### Trails and byways

* Great Parks Bicycle Route
* San Juan Skyway National Scenic Byway
* Unaweep/Tabeguache Scenic and Historic Byway
* Western Express Bicycle Route

## Politics

For most of the 20th century, San Miguel County was a national bellwether. It voted for the winner in every presidential election from 1912 to 1984. Since 1988, the county has become one of the most Democratic in Colorado and the nation, largely due to the presence of the Telluride Ski Resort and the influx of liberal-minded voters in the 1960s and 1970s. These trends have made San Miguel similar in vein to other heavily Democratic ski resort counties like Blaine County in Idaho, Teton County in Wyoming, and Pitkin County within Colorado. In the 2000 presidential election, San Miguel County was Green Party candidate Ralph Nader's best countywide performance in the country with 17.2% of the vote.
United States presidential election results for San Miguel County, Colorado :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 1,154 | 24.02% | 3,529 | 73.46% | 121 | 2.52% |
| 2020 | 1,136 | 22.07% | 3,924 | 76.24% | 87 | 1.69% |
| 2016 | 1,033 | 23.86% | 2,975 | 68.72% | 321 | 7.42% |
| 2012 | 1,154 | 27.11% | 2,992 | 70.30% | 110 | 2.58% |
| 2008 | 933 | 21.45% | 3,349 | 76.99% | 68 | 1.56% |
| 2004 | 1,079 | 26.85% | 2,876 | 71.56% | 64 | 1.59% |
| 2000 | 1,043 | 32.04% | 1,598 | 49.09% | 614 | 18.86% |
| 1996 | 773 | 28.18% | 1,535 | 55.96% | 435 | 15.86% |
| 1992 | 628 | 23.58% | 1,380 | 51.82% | 655 | 24.60% |
| 1988 | 798 | 43.39% | 961 | 52.26% | 80 | 4.35% |
| 1984 | 833 | 54.77% | 654 | 43.00% | 34 | 2.24% |
| 1980 | 774 | 42.79% | 651 | 35.99% | 384 | 21.23% |
| 1976 | 622 | 43.83% | 674 | 47.50% | 123 | 8.67% |
| 1972 | 583 | 54.95% | 426 | 40.15% | 52 | 4.90% |
| 1968 | 422 | 53.22% | 311 | 39.22% | 60 | 7.57% |
| 1964 | 332 | 34.23% | 636 | 65.57% | 2 | 0.21% |
| 1960 | 525 | 46.09% | 612 | 53.73% | 2 | 0.18% |
| 1956 | 648 | 57.86% | 469 | 41.88% | 3 | 0.27% |
| 1952 | 654 | 55.19% | 524 | 44.22% | 7 | 0.59% |
| 1948 | 451 | 41.80% | 613 | 56.81% | 15 | 1.39% |
| 1944 | 536 | 45.69% | 630 | 53.71% | 7 | 0.60% |
| 1940 | 729 | 45.94% | 851 | 53.62% | 7 | 0.44% |
| 1936 | 433 | 32.12% | 860 | 63.80% | 55 | 4.08% |
| 1932 | 383 | 29.74% | 862 | 66.93% | 43 | 3.34% |
| 1928 | 721 | 54.91% | 554 | 42.19% | 38 | 2.89% |
| 1924 | 677 | 43.62% | 567 | 36.53% | 308 | 19.85% |
| 1920 | 928 | 54.30% | 688 | 40.26% | 93 | 5.44% |
| 1916 | 578 | 29.13% | 1,325 | 66.78% | 81 | 4.08% |
| 1912 | 639 | 30.36% | 1,029 | 48.88% | 437 | 20.76% |
| 1908 | 882 | 45.30% | 927 | 47.61% | 138 | 7.09% |
| 1904 | 1,370 | 61.16% | 797 | 35.58% | 73 | 3.26% |
| 1900 | 717 | 30.39% | 1,604 | 67.99% | 38 | 1.61% |
| 1896 | 87 | 3.90% | 2,136 | 95.70% | 9 | 0.40% |
| 1892 | 272 | 23.43% | 0 | 0.00% | 889 | 76.57% |
| 1888 | 540 | 57.51% | 378 | 40.26% | 21 | 2.24% |
| 1884 | 433 | 54.19% | 365 | 45.68% | 1 | 0.13% |

## Communities
### Towns

* Mountain Village
* Norwood
* Ophir
* Sawpit
* Telluride

### Census-designated place

* Placerville

### Unincorporated Communities

* Ames
* Egnar
* Pandora
* Sams
* Slick Rock
* Tomboy (ghost town)