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'Alamosa' is a city in Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. It is also the county seat. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 8,682. Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Colorado The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado.
Alamosa was established in May, 1878 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railway and quickly became an important rail center. Alamosa is now a notable tourist town with many nearby attractions including the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. The town hosts a Sunshine Summerfest on the Rio Festival which occurs the first weekend in June. The name "Alamosa" means "cottonwood" in Spanish.

Contents

Facilities

Geography

Transportation

Demographics

Famous or Notable Alamosans

References

External links

Facilities

Alamosa is the shopping center for the San Luis Valley and boasts a WalMart Supercenter and two supermarkets, Safeway and City Market, a subsidiary of Kroger. There are a number of fast food restaurants, two medical clinics and a regional hospital, San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center.
Adams State College is located in Alamosa. ASC is a four year, state supported college founded in 1921 and offering degrees in several fields including business and education. ASC's track team is internationally recognized.

Geography

Alamosa is located at (37.468835, -105.873686), at the junction of U.S. Routes 160 and 285. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.3 km² (4.0 mi²).
Alamosa is located in the San Luis Valley, in the highest general agricultural land in the United States. The San Luis Valley is the largest intermountain valley in the world and features a dry climate with long cold winters and short cool summers. Local farmers specialize in growing cool weather crops. Elevation is about 7500 feet in Alamosa with peaks over 14,000 feet within 23 miles of town in the Sangre de Cristo range.

Transportation

Alamosa is on the Rio Grande river, which is crossed by two auto bridges and one rail bridge in town. Auto traffic is served by U.S. Highway 160 running east and west and U.S. Highway 285 and State Highway 17 running north and south. Alamosa is served by the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,960 people, 2,974 households, and 1,769 families residing in the city. The population density was 770.3/km² (1,995.0/mi²). There were 3,215 housing units at an average density of 311.1/km² (805.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.53% White, 1.41% Black or African American, 2.20% Native American, 0.95% Asian, 0.26% Pacific Islander, 22.36% from other races, and 4.28% from two or more races. 46.80% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 2,974 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 14.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.5% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 3.04.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 21.8% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,453, and the median income for a family was $33,017. Males had a median income of $27,100 versus $22,671 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,405. About 18.1% of families and 25.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.4% of those under age 18 and 17.0% of those age 65 or over.

Famous or Notable Alamosans

★ Carlos F. Lucero, Judge, United States District Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit

★ Gary Gallagher, Civil War Historian

★ William H Adams, Governor and also Mayor of Alamosa then later County Commissioner of Conejos

★ Daniele Ledonne, Filmmaker and creator of Super Columbine Massacre RPG!

★ Maliss Turcon, Famous scam artist and greatest comedian of all time.

★ Ken Salazar Democratic U.S. Senator of Colorado

References

1. Alamosa City Council Members

External links

★ SLV Dweller - Since 2002, SLV Dweller has served as an agglomeration of San Luis Valley news and information from varied sources.

★ SLV Junction - Community Bulletin Board & Classified Ads for Alamosa and Colorado’s San Luis Valley.