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History · Fort Garland

Fort Garland dates to 1858, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Fort Garland was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1967 on, and the census since 2000.

1858founded
1on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
11old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Garland’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Garland began

When was Fort Garland founded?

1858

Fort Garland dates its founding to 1858 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 2000.

First census: 432 in 20002020 census: 464168 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1862.The full story ↓
The story

How Fort Garland came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fort Garland.

Read it all →

Fort Garland was established by the United States Army in June 1858 to protect white settlers from the Ute people in the San Luis Valley, which was then part of the New Mexico Territory. Fort Garland was built to replace the earlier Fort Massachusetts. The new Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28, 1861, and the Fort Garland, Colorado Territory, post office opened on February 25, 1862. The fort was abandoned in 1883 following the confinement of the tribes to Indian reservations in the Territory of Utah and the State of Colorado. The Fort Garland Museum preserves some of the historic buildings from the fort.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fort Garland, 1858 to 1967

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858
    FoundingFort Garland is established
  3. 1862Post officeThe Fort Garland post office opens
  4. 1878In the archiveFort Garland, and the divide between the San Luis and Wet-Mountain valleys
  5. 20th century
  6. 1939In the archiveApolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, near Fo…
  7. 1940Born hereLarry E. Trujillo Sr. is born here
  8. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fort Garland, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s1 item
Fort Garland, and the divide between the San Luis and Wet-Mountain valleys1878Fort Garland, and the divide between the San Luis and…
1930s10 items
Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, near Fort Garland1939Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans…Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, near Fort Garland1939Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans…Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, near Fort Garland1939Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, r…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, r…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, r…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, r…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, r…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, r…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, rehabiliation client, harvesting beans, Costilla County, Colorado, …1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Apolinar Rael, r…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
A wall of Old West artifacts at the White Mountain Trading Post, a western-themed living-history museum in Fort Garland…2015A wall of Old West artifacts at the White Mountain Tr…A horse that's been led to water at the White Mountain Trading Post, a western-themed living-history museum in Fort Gar…2015A horse that's been led to water at the White Mountai…Fort Garland, Colorado2012Fort Garland, ColoradoFORT GARLAND, COSTILLA COUNTY, COLORADO2007FORT GARLAND, COSTILLA COUNTY, COLORADO
On the map

Fort Garland on the map, 1967 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fort Garland. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fort Garland on the 1967 USGS mapFort Garland on the 1982 USGS map1967Fort Garland sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fort Garland.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Fort Garland, and the divide between the San Luis and Wet-Mountain valleys
Retake this viewFort Garland, and the divide between the San Luis and Wet-Mountain valleys, 1878

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fort Garland’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 6 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Fort Garland
Districts
Fort GarlandDistrict

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Fort Garland, census by census

010020030040050020002020Peak: 464

Between 432 and 464 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fort Garland’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Finish Fort Garland’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFort Garland, and the divide between th…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Fort Garland’s history

What year was Fort Garland founded?

In 1858, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Fort Garland’s post office opened in 1862, and the census of 2000 counted 432 people here.

What is on the National Register in Fort Garland?

One place: the Fort Garland (listed 1970).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (11), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.