Aroya, Colorado
Encyclopedia
Aroya is a small, rural unincorporated community in Cheyenne County
, Colorado
, United States
at the eastern end of State Highway 94
near its junction with U.S. Highway 40/U.S. Highway 287. The name Arroyo appears on some older maps. The town was named "Aroya" because of a gulch nearby (arroyo
is a Spanish word for "gulch"). The gulch is now named the Aroya Gulch. Aroya originated in 1870 three miles west of the present site as a camp for Kansas-Pacific Railroad track-layers, but was moved to the present site because there was a better supply of water.
The Post Office at Wild Horse
(ZIP Code
80862) serves Aroya postal addresses. Aroya has an airfield (Maurer, altitude 4616 ft, inactive), a railroad (Union Pacific Railroad
), and a cemetery (Aroya Cemetery) within a one mile radius. Aroya also has an old one-room school
house that was in use until the early 1960s.
The JOD Ranch nearby (named for Joseph Ottmar Dostal, initials J. O. D.) was founded in 1883, and there have been ranching activities in the area since the 1870s. When Cheyenne County was formed in 1889, Joseph Dostal was the new county's largest property taxpayer. The airplane landing strips nearby were a private airfield on JOD Ranch property. The airfield was named after Bill Maurer, one of a number of subsequent owners of the JOD Ranch after it was founded by Joseph Dostal. The landing strips are no longer visible because they were dirt and grass landing strips, and they were plowed under in the early 1980s in the process of an unsuccessful attempt to grow wheat after Bill Maurer sold the ranch. The building that was used for the hangar
and the pole that was used for the windsock
are still in existence.
Cheyenne County, Colorado
Cheyenne County is the fifth least densely populated of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 2,231 at U.S. Census 2000...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the eastern end of State Highway 94
Colorado State Highway 94
State Highway 94 is an long east–west Colorado state highway that goes east beginning from US 24 just east of Colorado Springs and ending at U.S. Highway 40/U.S. Highway 287 in rural Cheyenne County west of Wild Horse. The highway serves Schriever Air Force Base and the towns of Ellicott,...
near its junction with U.S. Highway 40/U.S. Highway 287. The name Arroyo appears on some older maps. The town was named "Aroya" because of a gulch nearby (arroyo
Arroyo (creek)
An arroyo , a Spanish word translated as brook, and also called a wash is usually a dry creek or stream bed—gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain. Wadi is a similar term in Africa. In Spain, a rambla has a similar meaning to arroyo.-Types and processes:Arroyos...
is a Spanish word for "gulch"). The gulch is now named the Aroya Gulch. Aroya originated in 1870 three miles west of the present site as a camp for Kansas-Pacific Railroad track-layers, but was moved to the present site because there was a better supply of water.
The Post Office at Wild Horse
Wild Horse, Colorado
Wild Horse is an unincorporated town and a U.S. Post Office in Cheyenne County, Colorado, United States. The Wild Horse Post Office has the ZIP Code 80862.-Geography:Wild Horse is located at ....
(ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
80862) serves Aroya postal addresses. Aroya has an airfield (Maurer, altitude 4616 ft, inactive), a railroad (Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
), and a cemetery (Aroya Cemetery) within a one mile radius. Aroya also has an old one-room school
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
house that was in use until the early 1960s.
The JOD Ranch nearby (named for Joseph Ottmar Dostal, initials J. O. D.) was founded in 1883, and there have been ranching activities in the area since the 1870s. When Cheyenne County was formed in 1889, Joseph Dostal was the new county's largest property taxpayer. The airplane landing strips nearby were a private airfield on JOD Ranch property. The airfield was named after Bill Maurer, one of a number of subsequent owners of the JOD Ranch after it was founded by Joseph Dostal. The landing strips are no longer visible because they were dirt and grass landing strips, and they were plowed under in the early 1980s in the process of an unsuccessful attempt to grow wheat after Bill Maurer sold the ranch. The building that was used for the hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
and the pole that was used for the windsock
Windsock
A windsock is a conical textile tube designed to indicate wind direction and relative wind speed. Windsocks typically are used at airports and at chemical plants where there is risk of gaseous leakage...
are still in existence.