Limon is a statutory town in Lincoln County, Colorado, United States. Its population was 2,043 at the 2020 United States census, the most populous municipality of the county. Limon lies at the intersection of

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

, U.S. Highways 24, 40, 287, and Colorado Highway 71.

History

Railroads were the major factor for Limon's original founding and location. The Kansas Pacific Railroad made its way across the plains from southern Kansas following the Smoky Hill Trail in 1870. In 1888, the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad (now the Kyle Railroad) made its way west to east from Colorado Springs, entering Lincoln County and intersecting the Kansas Pacific (now Union Pacific) at the present day location of Limon. This union of the two railroads was the earliest founding of the "Hub City".

Porter lynching

Limon was the site of a

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

on November 16, 1900. Preston Porter Jr, a fifteen-year-old African-American male, had confessed under duress to the murder of eleven-year-old Louise Frost who was Caucasian. Porter was apparently being held some 90 miles away in Denver, but was sent back to Limon by request of unspecified people and against the wishes of Sheriff Freeman. When the train carrying Porter stopped in Limon, sixteen men selected from a mob of 300 "marked by calmness and determination" took Porter from Freeman's custody despite the sheriff's protestations "in the name of law." Originally it was announced that Porter would be hanged but many in the crowd including R. W. Frost, the girl's father, objected "that such a death would be too easy." The method was left to Frost who decided upon burning at the stake. Frost also refused to allow mutilation of Porter's body before burning. While waiting for his execution, Porter sat next to a bonfire reading the Gospel of Luke from the Bible. Porter was chained to an iron railroad rail set in the ground on the exact spot where the murder had taken place and burned to death, the match to start the fire being set by the girl's father. Lynchings of this type were apparently rare, as reporters on the scene wrote: "The general sentiment expressed approves the execution of the negro, but deprecates the method adopted."

1990 tornado

On June 6, 1990, an F3 tornado touched down near Matheson (about 16 miles west of Limon), tearing roughly east-northeast through fields. Minutes later, the then rain-wrapped tornado arrived, devastating the city. The storm injured 14 people, but remarkably no one was killed. Most of Limon's business district had been laid to ruins in just moments. Governor

Roy Romer Roy Rudolf Romer (born October 31, 1928) is an American politician who served as the 39th Governor of Colorado from 1987 to 1999, and subsequently as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2000 to 2006. Romer was a ...

declared Limon a disaster area the next day. Limon successfully rebuilt its business district adding streetscaping, a new Town Hall, relocating a medical clinic and Limon Memorial Library, creating Hub City Senior Center and a new fire station. Downtown Limon is now a thriving center of the community demonstrating the strength of this rural community.

Geography

Limon is located at at an elevation of . Although entirely in Lincoln County, Limon is located immediately east of the Elbert County line. It lies on the north side of Big Sandy Creek, a tributary of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

, on the eastern edge of the Colorado Piedmont region of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

, and is near the eastern end of the Palmer Divide. Located in east-central Colorado at the junction of

, U.S. Highway 287, U.S. Highway 40, U.S. Highway 24, and State Highway 71, Limon is far from any major city or town, being northeast of

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

, southeast of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, and west of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , all land.

Climate

Limon has a semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen ''BSk'') with cold, dry winters and warm, mildly wetter summers. Due to its location on the eastern plains, the town is often subject to severe, sometimes violent thunderstorms throughout the summer. Large hail, damaging winds, heavy rain, and tornadoes are common in the summer months. The high temperature reaches or exceeds an average of 32.3 days a year and reaches or exceeds an average of 0.8 days a year. The minimum temperature falls below the freezing point an average of 195.9 days a year. Typically, the first fall freeze occurs by the fourth week of September, and the last spring freeze occurs by the third week of May. In a typical year, Limon receives of precipitation, and there are 81.3 days of measurable precipitation. The hottest temperature recorded in Limon was on July 20, 2005; the coldest temperature recorded was on February 14, 2021.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,880 people, 828 households, and 476 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 963 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 93.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.9% American Indian, 0.8%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.8% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.8% from some other race, and 1.5% from two or more races. 9.4% of the population was

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 828 households, out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families. 37.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27, and the average family size was 3.00. In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.4% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 25.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.6 males age 18 and over. As of 2009, the median income for a household in the town was $40,903, and the median income for a family was $46,061. Males had a median income of $49,097 versus $31,615 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $22,442. About 16.6% of families and 18.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 25.5% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The Limon Correctional Facility is part of the Colorado Department of Corrections system and is a major employer in the area with employment of roughly 350. Limon is the western terminus of the

Kyle Railroad The Kyle Railroad is a regional railroad line that runs from North Central Kansas into Eastern Colorado. It is based in Phillipsburg, Kansas and runs on of track, mostly the former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad's Chicago to Denve ...

and it is here the regional interchanges with the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

. Trains previously stopped at Limon Railroad Depot.

Education

Limon Schools

Limon Schools has a new K-12 facility that opened in the fall of 2015. The $22.5 million project built two stories of new classrooms that accommodate up to 600 students. Limon Elementary School is a public coed school with 240 students in grades K-5. According to state standards, 82% of students at this school are considered proficient in math or reading. Limon Junior-Senior High School has 233 students in grades 6–12. According to state standards, 77% of students at this school are considered proficient in reading. Graduation rate is 90%.

Morgan Community College

Morgan Community College: Limon Center serves Arickaree, Flagler, Genoa-Hugo, Karval, Kit Carson, Limon, and Woodlin high schools. It currently offers A.A., A.S., A.A.S. & A.G.S. degrees; Transfer courses; Nursing pre-requisites; Agriculture & Business Management; GED preparation & testing; Specialty classes for teacher re-licensure; EMS training; and Computer classes.

Limon Child Development Center

Limon Child Development Center (Limon Head Start) offers a full-day, full-year preschool program for children ages 3–5. There are various funding programs available for children including Head Start, Colorado Preschool Program (CPP), CCCAP through the Lincoln County Department of Human Services, and private pay tuition.

Media

Print

''The Limon Leader'' is the city's weekly newspaper, published by Hoffman Publications, LLC and has a circulation of about 3,200 copies.

Radio

The following radio stations are

license A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

d to or broadcast from Limon: AM FM

Television

Limon is in the Denver television market.

Transportation

Highways

Limon is connected by Interstate 70 east to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and west to

. The Ports-to-Plains Corridor, including US 40/287 south and Colorado Highway 71 to the north, connects to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. US 287 southwards is planned to become

Interstate 27 Interstate 27 (I-27) is an Interstate Highway, entirely in the US state of Texas, running north from Lubbock, Texas, Lubbock to Interstate 40 in Texas, I-40 in Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo. These two cities are the only control cities on I-27 ...

then it follow the Heartland Expressway northwards. Colorado State Highway 71 connects south from Limon to

Pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926 which runs east and west for most of its routing. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Misso ...

is a direct passage southwest from Limon to

Railroads

Limon is served by the

and the

, a short-line railroad owned by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. The Kyle Railroad runs from North Central Kansas into Eastern Colorado with Limon as the western terminus where it interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad.

Aviation

The Town of Limon is from

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , often referred to by locals as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , Effective Ju ...

, the largest airport in the state. Colorado Springs Airport is located about from Limon. Limon Municipal Airport is a public use airport located at the eastern edge of town. The two-runway airport encompasses approximately and is owned and operated by the town government. The general aviation airport utilized by a range of aircraft ranging from single-engine aircraft up to small sized multi-engine business jets.

References

External links

Town of Limon websiteCDOT map of the Town of Limon
{{authority control Towns in Lincoln County, Colorado Towns in Colorado