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La Junta, Colorado
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The City of La Junta is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,568 at the U.S. Census 2000. La Junta is located in southeast Colorado, on the Arkansas River east of Pueblo. La Junta is home to two well-known museums: Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, an important trading post in the Old West, and the , housed at Otero Junior College, regarded as one of the finest collections of Native American artifacts in the world .
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Encyclopedia
The City of La Junta is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Otero County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,568 at the U.S. Census 2000. La Junta is located in southeast Colorado, on the Arkansas River east of Pueblo. La Junta is home to two well-known museums: Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, an important trading post in the Old West, and the , housed at Otero Junior College, regarded as one of the finest collections of Native American artifacts in the world . The Koshare Indian museum hosts a unique Boy Scout/Explorer program which trains the Scouts in both Indian dance and costumes. The Scouts give dance performances during the summer and also host many other Scout troops passing through the area.
La Junta is also home of the , home of the local theater company. In 1979, the first episodes of the CBS western miniseries The Chisholms, starring Robert Preston, was filmed near La Junta.
During World War II, La Junta had an Army Air Force Training Base outside town. The airport, located north of La Junta, has of tarmac and two runways which are still in use. One runway (east-west) is long and the other is . .
The Caboose (below right) is the drive through for the State Bank which was established in 1893. The bank is unique as it has been remodeled with antiques, including a teller line from the late 1890s.
Geography
La Junta is located at (37.981333, -103.547540).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.4 km²), all of it land. La Junta is directly opposite Īle Amsterdam, La Junta's
antipode. The area is high plains terrain, dry with short grass prairie and sagebrush.
Demographics
There were 7,568 people, 2,977 households, and 1,964 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,652.0 people per square mile (1,025.3/km²). There were 3,277 housing units at an average density of 1,148.3/sq mi (443.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 74.22% White, 1.22% African American, 1.77% Native American, 0.86% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 18.33% from other races, and 3.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 43.60% of the population.
There were 2,977 households out of which 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.1% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,002, and the median income for a family was $36,398. Males had a median income of $26,325 versus $21,324 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,928. About 16.8% of families and 21.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.4% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
La Junta has a major railyard for BNSF for assembling trains and adding engines for the climb across the Raton Pass. Amtrak's Southwest Chief stops here twice daily (east and westbound).
Noted residents
- J. F. Burshears, the founder of the Koshare Indian Dancers
- Ken Kesey, a writer, was born in La Junta
- Nicholas Newby, 2006 Boettcher Scholar, La Junta High School Graduate
Politics
Mayor: Don Rizzuto
City Council: Eugene Mestas, Billie Johnson, Jackie Abrams, Bob Friedenberger, Michael Moreno, Bill Schmidt.
City Manager: Rick Klein
City Attorney: Phil Malouff
Police Chief: G. Todd Quick
External links
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