Fun Facts about Steamboat

  • Named by French Fur trappers in the 1860s for a hot spring near the Yampa River that sounded like a steamboat
  • There are more than 150 mineral springs in the area
  • James Crawford staked the first homestead in 1875
  • City of Steamboat Springs was incorporated in 1900
  • Hometown of 69 Winter Olympic athletes since 1932, more than any other town in the US
  • Home to Howelsen Hill, Colorado’s oldest ski area in continuous use (opened 1915)
  • In the early 1900s Steamboat Springs was the largest exporter of cattle in the western United States
  • Lincoln Avenue (US Highway 40), Steamboat Springs’ main street was built wide to accommodate cattle drives
  • Rodeo History dates back over 100 years
  • Steamboat Springs weekly summer rodeo was named the “Small Town Outdoor Rodeo of the Year” by the ProRodeo Cowboys Association in 2002
  • Holds oldest annual winter carnival west of the Mississippi River
  • Home to Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp (opened 1913) attended by such performing artists as Dustin Hoffman, Julie Harris and Agnes de Mille
  • One of the first 8 US cities to receive the Preserve America Community designation from the White House

    If you want to buy a home in our fantastic resort town, with all of our quirky little facts, please call Joan Connelly of 

    Keller Williams Steamboat Real Estate: 

    970-846-8619.