Welcome to Cuchara ...
Cuchara is located in Huerfano County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Cuchara, you might consider that their post office opened in 1957.
From Place Names in Colorado,<2> the origin of Cuchara is described as "Spanish for 'spoon'. So named for its location in a spoonshaped valley."
Cuchara is 8,460 feet [2,579 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of Cuchara is about 1½ mile [or ~2½ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: Cuchara lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for Cuchara: 719
Communities near Cuchara ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Cuchara.
- La Veta
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Monument Park
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Garland City ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garland City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland City
- Garland City is located in Costilla County
- Muleshoe
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Muleshoe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Muleshoe
- Muleshoe is located in Huerfano County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Muleshoe
- From Cuchara to Muleshoe
- Russell ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Uptop ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- La Veta Pass
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Fort Garland
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Gulnare
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Alamo
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Cuchara. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Cuchara.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Cuchara. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Cuchara.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Cuchara. See our Newspapers Page for Cuchara.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Cuchara ...
Looking for more information about Cuchara? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Cuchara, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Cuchara.
Adding Cuchara to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Cuchara in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Cuchara was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
From that list, the Cuchara post office opened in 1957. The Cuchara post office closed in 1959.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Cuchara.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Colorado's counties, including Huerfano, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Cuchara - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |