13 Things You May Not Have Known About Colorado’s Oldest Town

Colorado's oldest community dates back to a time before Colorado was even a state. The community of San Luis sits in Costilla County near the Sangre de Cristo mountains and is part of Colorado's largest Valley.

Located along the Old Spanish Trail, people have been traveling through the San Luis Valley in Colorado since the 1600s and probably even earlier than that. Scroll on to learn 13 fun facts about Colorado's oldest community.

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Where is San Luis, Colorado?

Castilla County is located near the Colorado and New Mexico State line in the San Luis Valley. At an elevation of 7,979 feet, it's only 19 miles from the state line. San Luis is near the historic site of Fort Garland and is located near several cool attractions in southern Colorado. Keep going to find out which ones.

Who Founded San Luis, Colorado?

Would you believe the entire town of San Luis was handed over to one family? The Sangre de Cristo land grant of 1843 handed the town of San Luis over to the Carlos Beaubien family that year. This arrangement was erased by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which handed Northern Mexico to the United States. By 1851, Hispanic Settlers from the Taos Valley helped establish San Luis until it became part of the Colorado territory, and eventually the state.  Colonel Christopher "Kit" Carson was soon sent to command at nearby Fort Garland, and San Luis was officially incorporated in 1885. It is the longest inhabited town in the Centennial State.

The Most Popular Attraction in San Luis, Colorado

The Shrine at the Stations of the Cross is the most popular attraction in San Luis, Colorado. It was built in the 1980s and opened to the public in the 1990s. Keep going to see a virtual tour of the shrine following some interesting facts about the oldest town in our state.