Rio Blanco County, Colorado: History
Rio Blanco County was created on March 25, 1889, when it was split from Garfield County. The town of Meeker became the county seat.
On May 17, 1973, Rio Blanco County became one of two counties in Colorado to have a peaceful nuclear explosion as a part of Operation Plowshare. There were three nearly simultaneous explosions targeted at producing unconventional natural gas, all detonated as Project Rio Blanco. The other county is Garfield County under Project Rulison.
In August 2025, the Lee Fire burned in Rio Blanco County. The fire burned over 137,000 acres, becoming the fourth-largest wildfire in Colorado history.