Moffat County, Colorado

Moffat County is the northwesternmost of the 64 counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,795. The county seat is Craig.

Moffat County comprises the Craig, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Steamboat Springs-Craig, CO Combined Statistical Area.

History

Moffat County was created out of the western portion of Routt County on February 27, 1911. The county was named for David H. Moffat, a Colorado tycoon who died in 1911. His railroad, the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific, attempted to build a route from Denver to Salt Lake City. In 1913, a reorganized railroad, the Denver & Salt Lake, reached as far as Craig, the county seat, but no further. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, all Colorado District Courts were held in Denver, Colorado, in the State courthouse there, due to a lack of funds to build courthouses locally. All murder trials were held in Denver, in the District Courts. Allegedly, so many politically motivated murders occurred between the predominantly liberal, then, eastern Routt County, Colorado residents and the predominantly conservative, then, western Routt County residents, that the presiding judges—tired of presiding over these murder trials—requested that the State legislature split Routt County into what is now Routt and Moffat County; the legislature complied.

Moffat

Coordinates: 55°19′55″N 3°26′31″W / 55.332°N 3.442°W / 55.332; -3.442

Moffat (Scottish Gaelic: Am Magh Fada, "The Long Plain") is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, lying on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town.

The Moffat House Hotel, located at the northern end of the High Street, was designed by John Adam. The nearby Star Hotel, a mere 20 ft (6 m) wide, boasted a record in the Guinness Book of Records as the narrowest hotel in the world. Moffat won the Britain in Bloom contest in 1996.

Moffat is the home to Moffat toffee.

The town is held to be the ancestral seat of Clan Moffat. The Devil's Beef Tub near Moffat was used by the members of Clan Moffat and later the members of Clan Johnstone to hoard cattle stolen in predatory raids.

Early tourism as a spa town

From 1633 Moffat began to grow from a small village into a popular spa town. The sulphurous and saline waters of Moffat Spa were believed to have healing properties, specifically curative for skin conditions, gout, rheumatism and stomach complaints. In 1730 these were complemented by the addition of iron springs. During the Victorian era the high demand led to the water being piped down from the well to a tank in Tank Wood and then on to a specially built bath house in the town centre (now the Town Hall).

Moffat (disambiguation)

Moffat is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Moffat may also refer to:

Places

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See also

Moffat (surname)

Moffat or Moffatt is a surname, of Scottish origin (see Clan Moffat). It may refer to:

List of people surnamed Moffat or Moffatt