Welcome to La Junta ...
The city of La Junta is located in Otero County<1> and is the County Seat for Otero County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of La Junta, you might consider that their post office opened in 1876.
The city was incorporated April 23, 1881.
When the people of La Junta refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use La Juntan<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, La Junta has a population of 6,877 people<3> (see below for details).
La Junta is 4,120 feet [1,256 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the elevation of La Junta is about ¾ mile [or 1¼ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: La Junta lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for La Junta: 719
The ZIP code for La Junta: 81050<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, La Junta had an population of 6,877 people. This is a decrease of 2.83% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 9.13% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, La Junta had a population of 7,077 people (which is 37.53% of the total population of Otero County). This makes La Junta the county's most populous community.
The population of La Junta represents 0.14% of the total population of Colorado (which has 5,029,196 people), making it the state's 57th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 7,077 people, the population of La Junta decreased 6.49% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 7,568 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for La Junta.
Communities Also Named La Junta ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named La Junta - they are located in New Mexico and Texas (2).
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for La Junta.
Websites for La Junta ...
Official Website: www.ci.la-junta.co.us/
Communities near La Junta ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near La Junta.
- Rocky Ford
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Ford have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Ford
- Rocky Ford is located in Otero County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,806 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rocky Ford <7>
- Las Animas
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Las Animas
- Las Animas is located in Bent County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,128 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Las Animas <7>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Las Animas
- From La Junta to Las Animas
- Manzanola
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manzanola have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manzanola
- Manzanola is located in Otero County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 410 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manzanola <7>
- Cheraw
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cheraw
- Cheraw is located in Otero County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cheraw <7>
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Cheraw
- From La Junta to Cheraw
- Sugar City
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sugar City have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar City
- Sugar City is located in Crowley County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 244 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sugar City <7>
- La Junta Village
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for La Junta Village have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Junta Village
- La Junta Village is located in Otero County
- Swink
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Swink have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swink
- Swink is located in Otero County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 595 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Swink <7>
- Benton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest) - Hawley
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawley
- Hawley is located in Otero County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Hawley
- From La Junta to Hawley
- Higbee
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Higbee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<8>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higbee
- Higbee is located in Otero County
- Google driving directions:
- From your current location to Higbee
- From La Junta to Higbee
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 La Junta. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for La Junta.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of La Junta. 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 La Junta.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around La Junta. See our Newspapers Page for La Junta.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for La Junta ...
Looking for more information about La Junta? 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 La Junta, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for La Junta.
Adding La Junta to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of La Junta 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 La Junta was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
X2X - From that list, the La Junta post office opened in 1876.
We also found La Junta in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for La Junta.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for La Junta: www.ci.la-junta.co.us/
The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Colorado's counties, including Otero, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of La Junta refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of La Junta may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for La Junta. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around La Junta - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as La Junta). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether La Junta or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | 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. |
| <9> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |