Pagosa Junction, elevation , is a railroad ghost town in

Archuleta County, Colorado Archuleta County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13,359. The county seat and the only Colorado municipalities, incorporated municipality in the county is P ...

, U.S.

History

Originally established as a stop on the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

's Alamosa–Durango line (also called the San Juan Extension), the location was originally called Gato when a station house was first built there in 1881. In 1899-1900 a branch railroad line called the Rio Grande, Pagosa, and Northern Railroad was built between Gato and

Pagosa Springs, Colorado Pagosa Springs (Ute dialect, Ute language: Pagwöösa, Navajo language: Tó Sido Háálį́) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the o ...

. It was a logging railroad, bringing timber and lumber from the Pagosa Springs area to the main line in Gato. In 1899, as the population grew to 200 people, a post office was built in Gato, and the name was changed to Pagosa Junction. By 1930, Pagosa Junction's population had grown to 447. However, the branch to Pagosa Springs closed in the 1930s, and the town's population began to decline. Today, completely abandoned, some of the town's buildings remain, including St. John the Baptist Mission Church, located on a hill above the town. It was built on the hill in 1927, replacing two earlier churches — the first built in 1911 — that were destroyed by floods on the San Juan River that flows through the town. The town now lies on

Southern Ute Indian Reservation The Southern Ute Indian Reservation (Ute dialect: Kapuuta-wa Moghwachi Núuchi-u) is an Indian reservation in southwestern Colorado, United States, near the northern New Mexico state line. Its territory consists of land from three counties; in d ...

land. County Road 500 (Trujillo Road) goes through the town.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Pagosa Junction, Colorado Geography of Archuleta County, Colorado Ghost towns in Colorado Populated places established in 1899 1899 establishments in Colorado Former Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1881 Former populated places in Archuleta County, Colorado