Penrose is a census-designated place (CDP) and post office located in and governed by Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Cañon City, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The Penrose post office has the ZIP Code 81240.-->

History

Settlers followed the Pike's Peak gold rush (July 1858 and lasted until the creation of the Territory of Colorado on February 28, 1861). Farmers were incentivized by the Homestead Act to come to the area. A stage coach stop was established along Beaver Creek, which was known as the Beaver Creek settlement initially, Then, the settlement became known as Glendale. as well as other names. A school was established there in 1868 and operated until 1912, when a school was established in Penrose.

The community was named after Spencer Penrose.

Penrose gained national media attention after a local funeral home, the Return to Nature Funeral Home, was raided by the Fremont County Sheriff's Office in October 2023 due to complaints of a foul smell emanating from the area. The raid revealed 189 improperly-stored dead bodies. The FBI was then called on to help with the investigation. In October 2024, the Funeral Home owners, Jon and Carie Hallford, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for misusing relief money. They were also charged in state court for abusing corpses, money laundering, theft and forgery. In November 2024, the Hallford's pleaded guilty in state court to multiple counts of abusing corpses. The couple was then scheduled for sentencing the following year in both state and federal court. In March 2025, Carie Hallford withdrew her guilty plea in federal court and is now facing trial. In June 2025, Jon Hallford was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his federal wire fraud case. In February 2026, Jon was sentenced in state court to 40 years in prison for abusing corpses. In March 2026, Carie was sentenced to 18 years in federal court for the wire fraud conviction. In April 2026, Carie was sentenced to 30 years in state court for abusing corpes.

Geography

The Penrose CDP has an area of , all land.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,495 households in Penrose, of which 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.8% were married-couple households, 17.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 19.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. the median income for a household in the CDP was $47,951, up from $35,638 in the 2000 Census, and the median income for a family was $54,693. Males had a median income of $49,125 versus $35,093 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,774. About 14.5% of families and 16.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.7% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Penrose is located just north of the intersection of US 50 and SH 115; 115 runs north to become Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs. Penrose lies between Pueblo, to the southeast, and Cañon City, to the west, on US 50. Rail service existed briefly before World War I. The Fremont County Airport (1V6), usually called the Cañon City airport, actually has a Penrose address. Penrose is part of Colorado's Bustang network. It is on the Alamosa-Pueblo Outrider line.

Major highways

Economics

Many residents commute to work in Colorado Springs, or at the prisons of Florence or Cañon City, or at Holcim in Portland, southeast of town. Penrose has a single traffic light, a volunteer-run fire station, a trucking company, a gas station, a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall, an elementary school (graduates attend high school in Florence), a doctor's office, a post office, a library, a small grocery store, the Estes Industries model rocket factory, three small restaurants, and several other businesses.

Education

Fremont RE-2 School District, which covers the CDP,<!--UNI 03960-->. operates Penrose Elementary School. It also operates a 7–12 school in Florence: Florence Junior/Senior High School.

See also

  • List of census-designated places in Colorado

References

  • Penrose @ Colorado.com
  • Penrose @ UncoverColorado.com
  • Penrose Chamber of Commerce
  • Penrose history
  • Fremont County website