Gypsum, Colorado
Gypsum is a town in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,654 at the 2000 census. Gypsum is location of the Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), a popular regional airport used in the winter to transport skiiers to nearby Vail. Gypsum is the home of an American Gypsum drywall plant and mine.
Geography
  Gypsum is on I-70 in western Eagle County.
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Gypsum is located at 39°38′40″N 106°56′25″W / 39.64444°N 106.94028°WInvalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (39.644499, -106.940232)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.5 km² (3.7 mi²), all land.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 3,654 people, 1,150 households, and 917 families residing in the town. The population density was 383.4/km² (992.8/mi²). There were 1,210 housing units at an average density of 127.0/km² (328.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 81.28% White, 0.16% African American, 1.31% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 15.00% from other races, and 1.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31.31% of the population.
There were 1,150 households out of which 51.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.8% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 12.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.17 and the average family size was 3.47.
In the town the population was spread out with 33.1% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 38.7% from 25 to 44, 17.2% from 45 to 64, and 2.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 110.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $59,671, and the median income for a family was $62,384. Males had a median income of $40,139 versus $29,764 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,790. About 4.4% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.
American Gypsum
The largest industry in the town is American Gypsum (formerly CENTEX and before that, Eagle Gypsum Limited)'s drywall plant. The facility produces a variety of wallboard products, which is shipped by both rail and truck.
The company also operates an open pit gypsum mine in the hills north of town. The mine currently in operation is the second to have been located in the area. Its grade is quickly dropping, and the company intends to close and reclaim it soon. A new mine, roughly a mile away, has been permitted, and is currently in the development stage. Unlike most surface mines, which utilize drill and blast methods to recover material, the Eagle mine uses machines similar to pavement mills (Wirtgen 2200 SM Surface Miners) to cut six inch deep swaths through the relatively soft rock. Front-end loaders then sort the material by color (white is gypsum, brown is waste) and load it into trucks to be hauled either to the plant or to waste piles (although recently, some of the waste has been used to construct the haul-road to the new mine.)
