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- About Cedaredge
Cedaredge: A great place to visit... an even better place to call home!
Cedaredge is a growing community located in Delta County on the south slope of Grand Mesa and in the Upper Surface Creek area. Cedaredge has long been known as the gateway to Grand Mesa, a distinctive landmark and the world's largest flat top mountain. Nestled on the sunny side of Grand Mesa, the Town of Cedaredge is ideally situated at a comfortable elevation of 6,200 feet. The valleys on the south side are blessed with some of the mildest weather in Colorado. For nearly a century, fruit growers have found this climate, along with abundant irrigation water from Grand Mesa, ideal for apples, peaches, apricots, cherries and pears. More recently innovative growers in the Surface Creek area have discovered mild seasons perfect for wine grapes.
Featured Attractions
Step back in time at Pioneer Town, a museum resplendent with 24 buildings filled with displays situated on five acres in the heart of downtown Cedaredge. Pioneer Town is a valuable historic community project with three restored original Bar I Cattle Ranch silos, an historic apple shed relocated to the site along with many genuine valley structures to create an authentic pioneer town complete with a one room schoolhouse, cabin, boardwalks, country store, saloon and even a jail. Over two dozen original restorations or authentic replica buildings are outfitted to transport visitors back 100 years. The complex graces one of the most extensive collections of Native American arrowheads in the west, the Doll House which contains a large variety of handcrafted dolls, and a modern chapel fashioned artistically to highlight the cross and provide a venue for a variety of community and private functions. Pioneer Town is much more than a museum, featuring many annual events that community members and visitors look forward to each year.
Looking for some variety? Check out the Grand Mesa Arts & Events Center, which has a full schedule of live musical and theater performances, as well as classes available for both youth and adults.
Cedaredge folks love to celebrate our town and our rich agricultural heritage. Since 1978, the first weekend in October is slated for Applefest, Delta County's longest running community celebration. Applefest brings an influx of over 15,000 visitors to Cedaredge for a weekend of festivities including car shows, arts, crafts and food vendors, live music, a 5K and tons more - not to mention the best home-grown apples you'll find anywhere!
Parades, pride, picnics, parties and potlucks are not only a way of life in Cedaredge, but promote our passion for life beyond just a pretty town. From Party in the Park - a community-wide celebration - to welcoming groups like the Serenity Run and Colorado Grande to town, there is always something to do in beautiful Cedaredge! Keep up with all of our events by subscribing to our Calendar or by following us on Facebook!
History
"Cedar Edge" was the name Sophie Kohler, wife of the ranch foreman of the Bar I Cattle Ranch, named the community. On December 5, 1894, a Post Office was named Cedaredge by combining the words Cedar and Edge. According to a newspaper report from August 19, 1904, a land development company provided a Town Park and built a hotel, and intended to make Cedaredge "one of the prettiest towns in this part of Colorado" - a sentiment we still maintain to this day!
On February 24, 1905 town site lots were laid out to prepare for a bank, a store and to provide proper layout of streets. On March 25, 1907 the town officially incorporated an area known as the Bar I Cattle Ranch approximately 370 acres. Prior to 1913 each family depended on a well for water. That summer the Cedaredge water works consisted of a system one mile north of town where the water was piped to the residents. Individual septic systems were replaced with sewage collection and treatment by 1980 to serve a town that more than doubled in size since 1907. An eighteen hole golf course was completed with the front nine in 1992, and back nine in 1995, expanding the town from 800 acres and 1,200 people to almost 1,300 acres and 1,800 people by the year 2000.