Alamosa

Town and administrative headquarters of Alamosa County, south Colorado, USA; population (1990) 7,600. It is situated in the San Luis Valley, on the Rio Grande, 145 km/90 mi southwest of Pueblo. It is the valley's industrial and retail hub. Economic activities include railroad repair, flour milling, oil refining, and stockyards. It is also an agricultural shipping centre, distributing potatoes, lettuce, barley, dairy and meat products, and beverages.

The town developed with the arrival of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad in 1878, and was a railhead for precious metals mined in the San Juan Mountains. Alamosa is the home of Adams State College (1921). The town serves as the gateway to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, 32 km/20 mi to its northeast; it is also 32 km/20 mi east of the Rio Grande National Forest and 32 km/20 mi southwest of Blanca Peak (4, 375 m/14,345 ft).