The story
Read it all →How La Jara came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of La Jara.
Catawba converts to Mormonism who settled in Colorado from South Carolina helped to establish the settlement of La Jara.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · La Jara
La Jara’s post office opened in 1875, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the La Jara Depot. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1900.
1875first post office
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Quick answers
How La Jara began
When was La Jara founded?
1875
The La Jara post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 208 in 19002020 census: 730151 years
Founding year: the first La Jara post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about La Jara’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start La Jara’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how La Jara’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Timeline
La Jara, 1875 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
By decade
La Jara, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1930s–1940s4 items
![Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1737/a7fd025e6d646a15a8aa-s.jpg)
1940![Colorado [Adams County - Las Animas County (part)]](https://images.townratings.com/story/1737/9f233e5228f36486351c-s.jpg)
19401950s–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
2018
2007On the map
La Jara on the map, 1968 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of La Jara. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1968La Jara sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of La Jara.
Every building
La Jara, building by building, 1909
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.
1909Sheet 1 of 1Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewBisamratten direkt aus La Jara, Colorado, USA 1930 (Anzeige), 1930
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on La Jara’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in La Jara
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
La Jara Depot
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Modern Prairie1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
La Jara, census by census
Between 208 and 912 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on La Jara’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to La Jara
Nobody well known was born in La Jara itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Questions about La Jara’s history
What year was La Jara founded?
The La Jara post office opened in 1875, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in La Jara?
One place: the La Jara Depot (listed 1975).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.