Alamosa is the
home rule city that is the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Alamosa County, Colorado
Alamosa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,376. The county seat is Alamosa. The county name is the Spanish language word for a grove of cottonwood trees.
History
Alamosa ...
, United States.
Alamosa is located along the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
. The city population was 9,806 in the
2020 United States census.
The city is the commercial center of the
San Luis Valley
The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately long and wide, making it the largest alpine valley in the world. It extends from the Continental Divide on ...
in south-central
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, and is the home of
Adams State University
Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado, United States. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
History
Adams State was founded in 1921 as a normal scho ...
.
History
The Alamosa, Colorado, post office opened on March 12, 1878,
and the Town of Alamosa was incorporated on August 12, 1878.
[ The town was established by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and quickly became an important rail center. Alamosa was the terminus of the D&RG until 1881, when the line was extended to Monte Vista. The railroad had an extensive construction, repair, and shipping facility in Alamosa for many years and headquartered its remaining ]narrow-gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
service here with trackage reaching many points throughout southwest Colorado and northern New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. Alamosa County was created on March 8, 1913, with Alamosa as its first and only seat.
Alamosa is now a notable tourist town with many nearby attractions, including the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Colorado Gators Reptile Park, and the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad. The town hosts "Summer Fest on the Rio" which occurs the first weekend in June, the Early Iron car show over the Labor Day weekend, and "Weekends on the Rio" on various Sundays throughout the summer The city takes its name from the Spanish adjective
An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
''Alamosa'', meaning "of cottonwood", for the cottonwood forests which grow along the Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
and throughout town.
Geography
Alamosa is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 160 and 285. At the 2020 United States census, the city had a total area of including of water.[
Alamosa is located along the ]Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
in the San Luis Valley, in the highest general agricultural land in the United States. Elevation is about in Alamosa with peaks over within of town in the Sangre de Cristo Range.
Alamosa is the gateway city to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.
Climate
Alamosa features a cold desert climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''BWk'') with long, cold winters and warm summers, and dry weather year-round. The normal monthly mean temperature ranges from in January to in July. Annual precipitation is only , with the months of July through September being the wettest. The aridity depresses normal seasonal (July through June of the following year) snowfall to .
The altitude and dryness of the air cause day–night temperature differences to be severe year-round, averaging throughout the year. There was a long-term annual average of 227 days per year with a minimum of or less. In the 1981–2010 period, there was an average of 46 nights with minima at or below .
On July 10, 2020, Alamosa made weather history by measuring a record low temperature and a record high temperature in less than 12 hours.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 9,806 people, 3,828 households, and 1,935 families residing in the city.
2014
According to city-data.com from 2014 there were 9,531 people, 2,974 households, and 1,769 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,215 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 44.5% 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 ...
, 2.6% Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or 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 ...
, 2.20% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 1.3% 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 ...
, 0.3% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. 49.00% of the population were 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 2,974 households, out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 21.8% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,593, and the median income for a family was $33,017. Males had a median income of $27,100 versus $22,671 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,405. About 18.1% of families and 25.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.4% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Alamosa is a home rule municipality
Statutory city may refer to:
* Statutory city (Austria), an Austrian municipality acting as a district administrative authority
* Statutory city (Czech Republic), a Czech city with special privileges
* Statutory city (United States), a city in the ...
like many other Colorado towns. The city council has six members, four elected from wards and two at large. The council has authority to make, change, and repeal laws and ordinances. The city elects a mayor-at-large on a non-partisan ballot. The current mayor of Alamosa is Ty Coleman.
Education
Alamosa Public Schools are part of the Alamosa School District RE-11J, and include Alamosa Elementary School, Ortega Middle School, and Alamosa High School. Robert Alejo is the Superintendent of Schools.
Adams State University
Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado, United States. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
History
Adams State was founded in 1921 as a normal scho ...
, founded in 1921 as a teacher's college, offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. Graduate level programs emphasize teaching and education, art, history and business with many of the courses available online. In 2015, the college reached an all-time high enrollment of 3,701 students. The university's location in Alamosa, with an elevation of about 7,800 ft above sea level, attracts many athletes (especially runners) to the school's athletic program. In 2014, ASU added a cycling program.
The schools in Alamosa were the subject to the educational segregation lawsuit, '' Maestas vs. George H. Shone''.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Alamosa is on the Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
River, which is crossed by two auto bridges, one pedestrian bridge and one rail bridge in town. Auto traffic is served by U.S. Highway 160 running east and west and U.S. Highway 285 and State Highway 17 running north and south. Alamosa is served by the Colorado Pacific Rio Grande Railroad and 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 ...
. The local airport is San Luis Valley Regional Airport. Alamosa is part of Colorado's 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 ...
network. It is on the Alamosa-Pueblo Outrider line.
Facilities
Alamosa is the shopping center for the San Luis Valley and has several national and regional stores. There are a number of fast food restaurant
A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...
s, two medical clinics, and a regional hospital, San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center.
Adams State University
Adams State University is a public university in Alamosa, Colorado, United States. The university's Adams State Grizzlies athletic teams compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
History
Adams State was founded in 1921 as a normal scho ...
is located in Alamosa. ASU is a four-year, state-supported university founded in 1921 and offering degrees in several fields including business and education.
Trinidad State College has a campus situated in Alamosa. They offer 2-year degrees in gunsmithing, aquaculture, cosmetology, welding and nursing, as well as traditional arts and sciences classes like English, physics and chemistry.
Notable people
* Billy Adams (1861–1954) — mayor of Alamosa, governor of Colorado from 1927 to 1933
* Garrey Carruthers (1939–) — governor of New Mexico from 1987 to 1991
* Camille Herron (1981–) — professional ultramarathon
An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running.
Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...
runner and World Record holder
* Michael Johnson (1944–2017) — singer, guitarist, recording artist
* Carlos F. Lucero (1940–) — judge, U.S. District Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit
* Alice Ivers Tubbs (1851–1930) — frontier gambler known as "Poker Alice"
See also
* List of county seats in Colorado
*List of municipalities in Colorado
The U.S. Colorado, State of Colorado has 273 municipal corporation, active municipalities, comprising 198 towns, 73 City, cities, and two Consolidated city-county, consolidated city and county governments. The Denver, City and County of Denver ...
* List of populated places in Colorado
*List of post offices in Colorado
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*San Luis Valley
The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately long and wide, making it the largest alpine valley in the world. It extends from the Continental Divide on ...
Notes
References
External links
City of Alamosa website
State of Colorado
History Colorado
{{authority control
Cities in Alamosa County, Colorado
Cities in Colorado
County seats in Colorado
Populated places established in 1878
1878 establishments in Colorado