On July 8, 1694, Spanish ConquistadorDon Diego de Vargas and his army, two weeks before the Battle ofAstialakwa, reached Costilla County. Diego Vargas is not the first Spaniard in Colorado. Juan de Archuleta led an expedition into Colorado in 1664 – his expedition is the first traceable Spanish expedition into Colorado.[3] In 1647, Governor Luis Rosas fought with the Utes in northern New Mexico. While Rosa came near Colorado, it has not been verified he actually did.
Costilla County was the first area of Colorado to have been colonized. The county made up the major part of theSangre de Cristo Land Grant awarded by the government of New Mexico to theCarlos Beaubien family in 1843.Hispanic settlers fromTaos, New Mexico, officially establishedSan Luis on April 9, 1851.[4] Costilla County was one of the original 17 counties created by theTerritory of Colorado on November 1, 1861. The county was named forCostilla Creek.San Miguel was originally designated the county seat, but the county government was moved to San Luis in 1863. (In 1869, surveys placed San Miguel in theNew Mexico Territory.)
The county's original boundaries extended over much of south-central Colorado. Much of the northern portion became part ofSaguache County in 1866, and the western portions were folded intoHinsdale andRio Grande counties in 1874. Costilla County arrived at its modern boundaries in 1913 whenAlamosa County was created from its northwest portions.[5]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,230 square miles (3,200 km2), of which 1,227 square miles (3,180 km2) is land and 304 square miles (790 km2) (0.3%) is water.[6]
As of the2020 census, the county had a population of 3,499. Of the residents, 17.7% were under the age of 18 and 27.9% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 52.2 years. For every 100 females there were 109.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 107.1 males. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas and 100.0% lived in rural areas.[12][13][14]
Costilla County, Colorado – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
There were 1,594 households in the county, of which 23.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 25.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[13]
There were 2,423 housing units, of which 34.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 77.5% were owner-occupied and 22.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.3%.[13]
As of the2000 census,[18] there were 3,663 people, 1,503 households, and 1,029 families living in the county. Thepopulation density was 3 people per square mile (1.2 people/km2). There were 2,202 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (0.77/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 60.91%White, 0.79%Black orAfrican American, 2.48%Native American, 1.01%Asian, 0.14%Pacific Islander, 29.46% fromother races, and 5.21% from two or more races. 67.59% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 1,503 households, out of which 28.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.60% weremarried couples living together, 11.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.50% were non-families. 28.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.00% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 23.30% from 25 to 44, 28.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $19,531, and the median income for a family was $25,509, the lowest for Colorado. Males had a median income of $22,390 versus $16,121 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $10,748. About 21.30% of families and 26.80% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 32.40% of those under age 18 and 23.30% of those age 65 or over.
Costilla County has a heavily Hispanic population and has long been a Democratic stronghold. The last Republican to carry the county wasCalvin Coolidge in 1924,[19] and the last to gain an absolute majorityWilliam Howard Taft in 1912 – an era when most votes in these high valley counties were done for the voters bypolitical machines. In the last eleven Presidential elections the Democratic candidate has consistently received over sixty percent of the county's vote and four times won over seventy percent. In recent years, however, Republicans have gained ground in Costilla County and other areas of southern Colorado, with Republican candidateDonald Trump breaking 40% of the vote while holding Democratic candidateKamala Harris below 60% of the vote, both for the first time since 1972. This was the strongest shift toward the Republican party out of all Colorado counties in this election, mirroring the trends seen in other majority-Hispanic counties in the rest of the country.
United States presidential election results for Costilla County, Colorado[20]
In Colorado's first elections as a state in 1876,Auguste Lacome (D) ran againstWilliam H. Meyer (R) for State Senate in Costilla County, then Colorado's 18th District. Meyer would later become the Lt. Governor of Colorado. Votes cast for "Locome" and "Lacompte" were included in the count for Lacome. Meyer carried the election 349–204.
^Pages 242-247, Bauer, William H.; Ozment, James L.; and Willard, John H.,Colorado Post Offices, 1859-1989: A Comprehensive Listing of Post Offices, Stations, and Branches, Colorado Railroad Museum (May 1990), hardcover, 280 pages,ISBN978-0-918654-42-7
