Otero County, Colorado

Otero County Education, Geography, and History

Otero County is one of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 18,831. The county seat is La Junta. Otero County was created on March 25, 1889 from Bent County. The county is named for Miguel Antonio Otero, one of the founders of the town of La Junta and a member of a prominent Hispanic family.

Etymology - Origin of Otero County Name

Otero County is named in honor of Miguel A. Otero of the prominent Otero family of the Southwest.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Otero County History

Otero County was created in 1889 from part of Bent County. In 1911 the north part of Otero was split off to form Crowley County.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,270 square miles (3,289 km²), of which, 1,263 square miles (3,271 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (18 km²) of it (0.54%) is water.

Otero county is located in southeast Colorado. The American Discovery Trail and Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway are located in Otero county.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• North: Crowley County
• Northeast: Kiowa County
• East: Bent County
• Southwest: Las Animas County
• Northwest: Pueblo County

Education

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