Welcome to the fourth and final part of our Alamosa Through the Ages Blog Series! We are so happy to have kept you with us on this exciting trek through the creation and cultivation of Alamosa to what we know it to be today. This final leg of the series will cover the year 2000 to present day Alamosa. You will learn about some of the businesses established, more on the development of the Great Sand Dunes, and hear from Jeff Myers, Director of the San Luis Valley Museum, touching on culture in Alamosa and its development over the years, and more! Continue reading below to learn more about Alamosa and how it has grown and changed since the year 2000.

The Great Sand Dunes

As we all know the Great Sand Dunes National Monument was rapidly growing both in size and in popularity. The park was getting ready for big changes.In the year 2000, the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Act expanded the park's boundaries to 70,000 acres and added 42,000 acres of National Preserve in the Rio Grande National Forest. By 2004, the park encompassed 149,512 acres.

The big moment of the National Monument changing into a National Park also took place on September 13, 2004. Since then, the Visitors Center has been renovated and turned into an educational hub and an essential place to stop in before exploring the dunes! The park is home to the Pinon Flats Campground, and it is high in demand through the peak camping seasons! It has grown to 88 individual sites and 3 group campsites as well as each loop hosting sinks, toilets, potable water, and even a seasonal campground store! It has grown to be the ultimate destination for campers looking to fully immerse themselves in all that the National Park has to offer! 

The park still offers frequent programs open to the public as well as educational opportunities hosted at the beloved park amphitheater! 

There is so much to love about Great Sand Dunes National Park and we are certain that it will continue to make its mark on Alamosa history over the next 100 years and beyond.

Notable Downtown Businesses Established

There have been so many businesses that have opened since the year 2000 in Alamosa outside of this list, however, here are several of the beloved Downtown locations that most know and love from the year 2000 to present day Alamosa. 

• San Luis Valley Brewing Company: Opened in March of 2006 to the public, serving the community to present day

• Spare Keg Brewerks: Opened in 2017, still operating in Downtown Alamosa

• Woody’s Q Shack: Catering since 2012, started the trailer in 2015 and opened their Downtown location in 2019

• Purple Pig Pub & Pizzeria: Originally the oldest bar in Alamosa, the purple pig remodeled and re-opened in 2019

• Narrow Gauge Book Coop: Re-Opened as a Co-op after a 40 year operation was in jeopardy of being closed. This local gem re opened in 2018

• Alamosa Home: Opened in 2015, still operating in Downtown Alamosa

• Blessed Brews & Roots by Blessed: Blessed Brews was well known and loved by locals, and was opened in 2004. It was rebranded to ROOTS by Blessed in 2022 and moved to its current Downtown location    

Cultural Perspectives From Jeff Myers, Director of the SLV Museum

Visit Alamosa was able to sit down with Jeff Myers, the Director of the SLV Museum located in Alamosa, CO. When the discussion of culture in the area came about, he was not shy to educate on the various groups that are responsible for the formation of the culture in the San Luis Valley.

When asked “In what ways has the culture in Alamosa stayed the same and how has it changed?”, Jeff responded, “ Certain groups have changed a little more than others, for example, let's talk about Japanese Americans, back at the turn of the century they came in whole families out here (to Alamosa) more like pioneers would, so they were predominantly into agriculture and things have really changed a lot with this group because they no longer stay on the farm, they go on to do other things. So back in my days, you would have had a Yoshita staying on the farm and he would have farmed along with his brothers and his uncles and his dad and his grandfather would have farmed the same plot of land. Now, this has a lot to do with other settlers as well, especially with agriculture. So as time went on and things changed, especially diversity, they also went that way. Many of these people didn't stay on the farm anymore and went out to be doctors and lawyers somewhere else, moved on and out to a different state.” 

When looking at early German settlers, in the area and how they impacted our culture, he states, “They kind of just amalgamated into everything. We used to have a big German colony in the Villa Grove area in the early 1870’s, integrating into the culture around them. There were also German POW camps during World War 2, one in Monte Vista and one in Center. Many of the prisoners were granted release to work in the fields and upon the end of the war, many of them stuck around because they didn't have anything in Europe to go back to. So we get a small piece of our German culture and heritage from captured  luftwaffe pilots.”

The group that gets the nod for the best preserved culture into today's society is the Chicanos. Jeff stated, “Chicanos in the Valley, you know I think that out of all the groups we just discussed, I think that they have maintained their cultural integrity more than any other group. Still today, they really haven't lost any kind of identity. You know, there is a lot of stuff that is Hispano and Chicano that we do all of the time. I think that they have embraced and kept most of their cultural flavor.”

A group we don’t think about as much that also largely impacted the San Luis Valley culture is the Dutch. Jeff knew plenty on the subject however and stated, “The Dutch have kind of amalgamated, they are still farmers and builders. Some have changed and gone to leave the area, but really haven't changed that much in the Valley. Many of them still reside in the Waverly District between La Jara and Alamosa. All of the great builders were and still are some of the best in the area, farmers too.”

Some of the earliest settlers in the area were the many groups of Native American Tribes. They left their mark on the land and this can be seen on the culturally peeled trees within The Great Sand Dunes National Park. Though their culture has not been as well preserved in today's society, Jeff notes, “ The Native Americans in the Valley had a lot of influence. We used to have a lot more Native American influence here. However, they kind of lost their flavor in the area over time. We used to have a much larger Native American presence here and used to value the individual tribes and groups a lot more. That has just sort of gone by the railways. Those things have just culturally slipped away from us a little bit and we need to be a little more focused on that. Especially the Native Americans and their culture because they have been here for eons and eons of time. So I think that things like that need a lot more focus in history here. It's more due to social movement, more due to kids that grew up in Native American Tribes that have gone on to do different things. Now they are school teachers in Florida, they are workers in a casino in Vegas, you know they just lost a lot of their cultural flavor that they used to have a long time ago and that identity has become diluted.”

When asked how we as a community are putting forth effort to preserve culture in the area, he mentioned, “We are making it a lot more important for arts and culture here. I think it is high time. The murals over the last two years are a good indicator of that. There are a lot more projects and spread into the artability of the area. Take Adams State into consideration, great artists come out of Adams State. Beyond that, Farming in the Valley, farming and ranching, we are still doing that! Farming will never go out of the Valley. That's it, farming and ranching is what we are all about. You know, railroading and mining is kind of a dead industry because commercial trucking took so much of it in the 50s and 60s. We still do have trains coming through Alamosa and they still do carry coal, cargo and oils, but not nearly like in the hay day.

All of this to say, the Alamosa “flavor” has come from so many different groups and individuals, and different cultures have been both preserved and changed in many, allowing for an ultra diverse and culturally rich area! 

Preservation groups like the Alamosa Historical Society, whose work allows for even the oldest buildings in the area to get the care, time, money, and attention they need to be an everlasting piece of Alamosa history. Without the efforts of thoughtful community members, concerned in the matter and groups that help push for historical preservation, it goes without saying that the work of early settlers would slowly fade in time, to be lost forever. We continue to see preservation efforts in Downtown and beyond with high hopes of it not slowing down any time soon! 

So weather you are visiting Alamosa or live in the area, take some time to visit all of the historical stops along the way like the Fort Garland Museum & Cultural Center, the Sangre De Cristo National Heritage Area, The San Luis Valley Museum, the Luther Bean Museum at Adams State University, and SO many more spanning the San Luis Valley! There is so much to learn about this culturally rich area and even more to try to preserve, and education on the subject is the first step! 

All of us here at Visit Alamosa sincerely hope that you have enjoyed this blog series and that we have made you all eager to go out and learn more about Alamosa and the surrounding area! 

So, to all of our history buffs, historians, avid readers, and culture seekers, we wish you luck in your historical explorations!