Welcome to La Plata ...
So far, we found very little information about La Plata. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added La Plata to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with La Plata, please Contact Us.
La Plata would have been located within present day La Plata County<2>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of La Plata, you might consider that their post office opened in 1882.
While the community is gone, the present day location for La Plata is 9,300 feet [2,835 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of La Plata is about 1¾ mile [or ~2¾ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: The area where La Plata was located is in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
The Area Code where La Plata was located: 970
Communities Also Named La Plata ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 7 communities that are also named La Plata - they are located in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas (2) and Utah.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for La Plata.
Communities near La Plata ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near La Plata.
- Durango
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durango
- Durango is located in La Plata County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 19,690 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Durango <4>
- Mancos
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mancos have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mancos
- Mancos is located in Montezuma County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,398 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mancos <4>
- Hesperus
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hesperus
- Hesperus is located in La Plata County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hesperus <4>
- Fort Lewis ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fort Lewis. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Lewis
- Fort Lewis is located in La Plata County
- Hermosa
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hermosa
- Hermosa is located in La Plata County
- Carbon Junction
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon Junction
- Carbon Junction is located in La Plata County
- Rockwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockwood
- Rockwood is located in La Plata County
- Marvel
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marvel have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marvel
- Marvel is located in La Plata County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marvel <4>
- Rico
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rico have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rico
- Rico is located in Dolores County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 262 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rico <4>
- Florida
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Florida
- Florida is located in La Plata County
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 Plata. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for La Plata.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of La Plata. 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 Plata.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around La Plata. See our Newspapers Page for La Plata.
Adding La Plata to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of La Plata 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 Plata was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
X2X - From that list, the La Plata post office opened in 1882.
For more details, see References and Mentions for La Plata.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for La Plata County: www.co.laplata.co.us/
The official website for State of Colorado: https://www.colorado.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about La Plata, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of Colorado's counties, including La Plata, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around La Plata - 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/ |