La Junta, Colorado ... the Smile-Hi City. We are a close-knit community of approximately 8,000 people located in Southeastern Colorado on the Arkansas River and Santa Fe Trail. This area of Colorado offers a wide variety of history and tourism opportunities. Whether you are looking for hiking or biking trails, museums, bird watching, hunting, or relaxing on a lake, La Junta and its surrounding areas will not disappoint you.

Located in or near La Junta are Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, Boggsville Historic Site, Comanche National Grasslands, Picketwire and Vogel Canyons, both offering hiking trails, Lake Meredith, Lake Hasty, Lake Henry, Holbrook Lake, John Martin Reservoir State Park, La Junta City Park with SK8- Way park, Wipe Out water slide and pool, the Koshare Indian Museum and Dancers, the Otero Museum, and the Picketwire Theater.

From preschool through Otero Junior College, we are proud to boast of our quality schools and an education system that encourages lifelong learning.  We are proud of our strong family values, the many school, church, and civic organizations for our youth and adults alike, and the numerous activities and events that promote and nurture a vital and energized community throughout the year.

La Junta grew on the foundations of farming and agriculture in the 1800's.  With the arrival of the railroad, new businesses and families flourished in this rapidly growing town.  Hard work was, and still is, a way of life here.  People seeking business opportunities will find La Junta is affordable and accessible, a forward-thinking community with a growing industry base and a talented, diversified, and hard-working populous.

We invite you to explore our site further.  Meet the members of our Chamber, the people of our town, and discover the "Hometown" feel of La Junta, Colorado.

Four decades or so after the Bent Brothers built their fort, the fur trade era had passed into history. The Indian Wars and the buffalo had all passed into history. The railroads were pre-eminent, bringing commerce, settlers and what passed for civilization to the American West. La Junta was one of the offshoots of the changing times.

 On May 15, 1881, the approximately 285 residents of a small village at the side of rails (then running east and west on the south bank of the Arkansas River) incorporated and formed themselves as the City of La Junta. It is said that a herd of nearly 100 antelope ran down what passed for Main Street, leading to the presence of the animals on the City seal today. The name La Junta is of Spanish origin and it pronounced La Hunta. It signifies a junction or meeting place where roads meet and diverge to the mountain passes or to the wide plains.

 La Junta was a railroad town from the beginning. In late 1875, La Junta was established as a stop for the Santa Fe Railroad.

 The Santa Fe recognized the value of the location and built a depot and roundhouse here. By 1879, the Santa Fe Railroad shops had been established and La Junta was headquarters for the railroad’s Colorado division. It was due to the presence of the railroad that La Junta became the site of Colorado’s first Fred Harvey House. La Junta would also be a terminus for a spur of the Kansas Pacific Railway coming in from Kit Carson.

 In more than one hundred years since that day in 1881, La Junta has waxed and waned with the fortunes of commerce. Even through thick and thin, La Junta’s government today offers a full range
of services to its citizens and continues to thrive.

 The local area specializes in ranching and agricultures with some of the finest cantaloupe and watermelon crops in the world. Spiritual needs are attended to by a host of churches and places of worship; museums, theatres and historical sites continue to attract international visitors: children have an option of several top-quality public schools in the district and the cost of living is low compared to more industrialized locations. Although at first glance La Junta might seem relatively isolated, it does offer a quiet, small town lifestyle augmented by modern communications.