{"id":819,"date":"2023-01-20T19:31:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T19:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=819"},"modified":"2026-08-21T08:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T08:37:13","slug":"crowley-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/crowley-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Crowley County, Colorado"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Crowley County is a county in Colorado, United States, on the Arkansas River in the southeastern plains, roughly midway between Pueblo and La Junta. It had a population of 5,922 at the 2020 census and covers 800 square miles (2,072 km2), centred near 38\u00b020\u2032N 103\u00b047\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Ordway is the county seat, and its postal code is 81063. The county has four incorporated towns &mdash; Crowley, Olney Springs, Ordway and Sugar City &mdash; plus a small number of unincorporated communities, including King Center and Pultney. Crowley County lies in the Mountain time zone.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Crowley County<\/h2>\n<p>Crowley County has four incorporated towns, all organized as statutory towns under Colorado law, and at least two named unincorporated communities. Places tagged <strong>Unincorp.<\/strong> below have no municipal government of their own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Ordway<\/td>\n<td>Town &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>1,066<\/td>\n<td>81063<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Olney Springs<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>315<\/td>\n<td>81062<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sugar City<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>259<\/td>\n<td>81076<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Crowley<\/td>\n<td>Town<\/td>\n<td>166<\/td>\n<td>81033<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>King Center<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pultney<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>81063 &mdash; Ordway (also serves King Center and rural areas of the county)<\/li>\n<li>81062 &mdash; Olney Springs<\/li>\n<li>81076 &mdash; Sugar City<\/li>\n<li>81033 &mdash; Crowley (post-office-box delivery only)<\/li>\n<li>81034 &mdash; a single-entity ZIP serving the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility near Ordway<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pultney has no ZIP code of its own; mail addressed there is routed through Ordway.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Crowley County sits in the Arkansas River valley on Colorado&#8217;s southeastern plains, a mostly flat, semi-arid landscape of irrigated cropland along the river giving way to shortgrass rangeland away from it. The Arkansas River crosses the northern part of the county, and Lake Meredith, an irrigation reservoir, lies south of Ordway and Sugar City. Of the county&#8217;s 800 square miles, 787 square miles are land and 13 square miles are water.<\/p>\n<p>Crowley County borders Pueblo County to the west, El Paso County at a short corner to the northwest, Lincoln County to the north, Kiowa County to the <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/kiowa-county\/\">east<\/a>, and Otero County to the <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/otero-county\/\">south<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Crowley County had 5,922 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 7.5 people per square mile. Ordway, with 1,066 residents, and Olney Springs, with 315, are the two largest communities. Median household income in the county runs well below the Colorado median of $92,911, reflecting its rural, agriculture- and corrections-dependent economy. The county&#8217;s racial makeup is majority non-Hispanic White with a substantial Hispanic population, and it is notable nationally for having one of the highest shares of its census-counted population held in state prison, owing to the correctional facilities located there.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Irrigated farming along the Arkansas River &mdash; alfalfa, corn, sugar beets historically, and other row crops &mdash; has anchored Crowley County&#8217;s economy since the early 1900s. The Crowley County Correctional Facility, a private prison near Olney Springs operated under state contract, is now one of the county&#8217;s largest employers. Sugar City&#8217;s name recalls the National Beet Sugar Company factory that operated there from 1899 until 1967, once the town&#8217;s economic mainstay.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Crowley County was organized on May 29, 1911, carved out of neighboring Otero County, and named for John H. Crowley, a state senator from Otero County at the time. Railroad expansion after 1887 and the arrival of irrigation canals drew settlers to the Arkansas valley towns of Ordway, Olney Springs, Sugar City and Crowley in the following decades. The county has voted Republican in nearly every presidential election since 1964, the sole exception being 1964 itself.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>State Highways 96 and 71 cross Crowley County, meeting near Ordway. Nearest towns and cities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>La Junta &mdash; about 35 miles south<\/li>\n<li>Pueblo &mdash; about 45 miles west<\/li>\n<li>Colorado Springs &mdash; about 85 miles northwest<\/li>\n<li>Lamar &mdash; about 60 miles east<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial air service is Colorado Springs Airport; Pueblo Memorial Airport, closer but with limited scheduled flights, is the nearest regional field.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Crowley County, Colorado?<\/strong><br \/>It is in the Arkansas River valley of southeastern Colorado, between Pueblo and La Junta.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Crowley County?<\/strong><br \/>5,922 at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Crowley County?<\/strong><br \/>800 square miles (2,072 km2), of which 787 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Crowley County?<\/strong><br \/>Ordway, the largest town in the county with 1,066 residents at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Crowley County?<\/strong><br \/>Four incorporated towns &mdash; Ordway, Olney Springs, Sugar City and Crowley &mdash; plus unincorporated communities such as King Center and Pultney.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Crowley County?<\/strong><br \/>81063 (Ordway), 81062 (Olney Springs), 81076 (Sugar City), 81033 (Crowley) and the correctional-facility ZIP 81034.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is Sugar City called Sugar City?<\/strong><br \/>It grew around a sugar beet processing factory built in 1899 that operated until 1967.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/colorado\/\">Towns and villages in Colorado<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crowley County is a county in Colorado, United States, on the Arkansas River in the southeastern plains, roughly midway between Pueblo and La Junta. It had a population of 5,922 at the 2020 census and covers 800 square miles (2,072 km2), centred near 38\u00b020\u2032N 103\u00b047\u2032W. Ordway is the county seat, and its postal code is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Crowley County, Colorado","_seopress_titles_desc":"Crowley County, Colorado: population, towns (Ordway, Olney Springs, Sugar City, Crowley), ZIP codes, geography, history and FAQ.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-colorado","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10982,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819\/revisions\/10982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}