History - Lamar, CO

 Aerial Picture of Lamar

  Downtown Lamar  Downtown Lamar

Lamar’s colorful history began with a hijacking in May, 1886. The most likely site for a town in Southeast Colorado was the location where Blackwell Station depot had been built, but the landowner refused to negotiate. A fake telegram was sent to the property owner luring him away and in the middle of the night, a railroad wrecking crew moved the depot three miles west and renamed the depot and the town Lamar. Although our town's history is spirited, the present-day lifestyle in southeastern Colorado is quite tame. Lamar offers rural family living at its best with a small-town atmosphere and a strong sense of community. We are in the heart of America with two major U.S. Highways intersecting in downtown Lamar connecting Mexico to Canada
and the East Coast to the West Coast. We are in the middle of everywhere!
 

Lamar Theatre

Train Station

City Complex

 

Lamar is the commercial center of a vast farming and ranching region and is already known for its natural and historic resources: the Arkansas River, its historic downtown, its location on the Santa Fe Trail, its proximity to historic sites such as Amache-Granada Japanese Relocation Center, the Sand Creek Massacre site, Bent’s Old Fort and John Martin Reservoir. Lamar is one of Colorado’s best birding destinations with over 400 species of birds traveling through annually. Monarch butterflies are abundant naming Lamar as Colorado’s only Monarch City USA. You will never find a community with more compassion, loyalty and heart. Lamar is a great place to visit but a better place to live!