Lamar is the home rule municipality that is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

and the most populous municipality of Prowers County,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The city population was 7,804 at the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

. The city was named after Confederate slaveholder Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II during the period that he was Secretary of the Interior in the futile hope that the town would be named as the land office.

History

Lamar was founded on May 24, 1886 by Issac Holmes. It was named after

Lucius Lamar Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II (September 17, 1825January 23, 1893) was an American politician, diplomat, and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Mississippi in both houses of Congress, served as the United States Secr ...

. At the time Lamar was the Secretary of the Interior, but previously he had written the

Mississippi Ordinance of Secession The Mississippi Secession Ordinance was written by Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (II), who resigned from the U.S. Congress in January 1861. and The ordinance was signed by James Z. George and others. Text of Ordinance: References Sece ...

, served the Confederacy as an officer and a diplomat. The first town elections were held in December, and C. M. Morrison became the town's first mayor. In 1889 Prowers County was established, and Lamar was elected to house the county's government. Throughout its history, Lamar has suffered from fires and floods. The town was also greatly affected by the Dust Bowl, and as such participated in projects led by the Civil Works Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Administration, and the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. The northern site of the

Pierre Auger Observatory The Pierre Auger Observatory is an international cosmic ray observatory in Argentina designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays: sub-atomic particles traveling nearly at the speed of light and each with energies beyond 1018 eV. In Ear ...

of ultra-high energy cosmic rays is planned to be built near Lamar.

Geography and climate

The city lies in southeastern Colorado in northwestern Prowers County on the south side 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 the western United ...

floodplain. Las Animas is about twenty miles to the west. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

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

Transportation

Lamar receives intercity passenger rail service at the Lamar Amtrak Station via

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flags ...

, which runs between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. There is also intercity bus service provided by

Bustang Bustang is an intercity bus service in the U.S. state of Colorado. Service began in 2015 and originally traveled between Denver and Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Glenwood Springs. Service has since been expanded to connect Grand Junction, ...

. Lamar is the last eastbound stop of the Lamar-Pueblo-Colorado Springs Outrider line. Highways * US 50 is an east-west highway running from California to Maryland. It is also the main route to Pueblo and Las Animas. * Prowers County Road 196 (state has abandoned the highway) is an stretch that connects around Lamar to Wiley. * US 287/

385 Year 385 ( CCCLXXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Bauto (or, less frequently, year 1138 ''Ab urbe co ...

are two concurrent highways that run south through Lamar. They connect Lamar to Springfield. US 287 runs from

Texas State Highway 87 State Highway 87 (SH 87) runs for between Galveston, Texas (at a terminus shared with Interstate 45 and Spur 342) to U.S. Highway 59 and U.S. Highway 84 in Timpson, Texas. Highway 87 has a notable stretch between Sea Rim State Park and Hi ...

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County, Texas, Orange County; it is east of Housto ...

to US 89 at Choteau, Montana. US 385 runs from

Big Bend National Park Big Bend National Park is an American national park located in West Texas, bordering Mexico. The park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, and was named after ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

US 85 U.S. Route 85 (US 85) is a north–south United States Highway that travels in the Mountain and Northern Plains states of the United States. The southern terminus of the highway is at the Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, connecting ...

in Deadwood,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large po ...

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, Lamar is located in a

cold semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(Bsk)

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2010, there were 7,804 people, 3,102 households, and 1,980 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 3,666 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 78.6%

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

, 0.7%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.0% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 16.3% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 39.7% of the population. There were 3,102 households, out of which 42.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals living alone, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.07. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.8% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,521, and the median income for a family was $43,588. Males working full-time and year-round had a median income of $31,621 versus $30,148 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $16,944. About 21.4% of families and 24.6% 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 34.1% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Lamar is part of School District RE-2, and it is home to

Lamar Community College Lamar Community College is a public community college in Lamar, Colorado. Founded in 1937, it is the smallest member of the Colorado Community College System. History The college was founded as the Junior College of Southeastern Colorado in 19 ...

Economy

Lamar was originally founded as a town with an agriculture-based economy. In 1982 the German bus manufacturer Neoplan opened a manufacturing plant employing 650, but it closed down in 2006. Lamar has increasingly relied on tourism.

Notable people

Notable individuals who were born in or have lived in Lamar include: * Gordon L. Allott (1907-1989),

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

from Colorado *

Marvin Ash Marvin E. Ashbaugh (October 4, 1914 – August 21, 1974) was an American jazz pianist. Early life He was born in Lamar, Colorado. His father, Roy Ashbaugh, was a barber. His mother's name was Nora (Tuttle) Ashbaugh. He grew up in Junction Cit ...

(1914-1974), jazz pianist * Ken Curtis (1916-1991), actor, singer *

Scott Elarton Vincent Scott Elarton (born February 23, 1976) is a retired right-handed pitcher. He played for the Houston Astros (–), Colorado Rockies (2001–), Cleveland Indians (2004–, ) and the Kansas City Royals (–) Playing career Minor leagues; H ...

(1976- ), baseball pitcher * Curt Gentry (1931-2014), journalist, non-fiction author * Gerald Gregg (1907-1985), illustrator, book cover artist * Wayne R. Grisham (1923-2011), U.S. Representative from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Floyd D. Hall Floyd D. Hall (April 4, 1916 – April 26, 2012) was an American businessman and pilot who served as chairman and chief executive of Eastern Airlines from 1964 to 1976 between the tenures of Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Borman. Hall was born i ...

(1916-2012), pilot, airline executive * Sharon Herbaugh (1954 - 1993), war correspondent for the Associated Press * Wesley Tuttle (1917-2003), singer-songwriter, guitarist * Sandy Vance (1947- ), baseball pitcher

References

External links

City of Lamar

Lamar City Map
CDOT
Lamar School District RE-2
{{Authority control Cities in Prowers County, Colorado Cities in Colorado County seats in Colorado Colorado populated places on the Arkansas River Populated places established in 1886 1886 establishments in Colorado