La Jara, Colorado

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Coordinates: 37°16′28″N 105°57′39″W / 37.27444, -105.96083
Town of La Jara, Colorado
Location in Conejos County and the state of Colorado
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County^[1]	Conejos
Incorporated (town)	November 11, 1910^[2]
Government
- Type	Statutory Town^[1]
Area
- Total	0.4 sq mi (0.9 km²)
- Land	0.4 sq mi (0.9 km²)
- Water	0 sq mi (0 km²)
Elevation ^[3]	7,605 ft (2,318 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	877
- Density	2,192.5/sq mi (974.4/km²)
Time zone	Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
- Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code^[4]	81140
Area code(s)	719
FIPS code	08-42055
GNIS feature ID	0204783

The Town of La Jara is a Statutory Town located in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The population was 877 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Recent News
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Geography

La Jara is located at 37°16′28″N, 105°57′39″W (37.274536, -105.960844)^[5].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.9 km²), all of it land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 877 people, 313 households, and 230 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,481.2 people per square mile (967.5/km²). There were 345 housing units at an average density of 976.1/sq mi (380.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 67.27% White, 0.11% African American, 2.85% Native American, 27.02% from other races, and 2.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 62.94% of the population.

There were 313 households out of which 38.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the town the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $24,167, and the median income for a family was $29,643. Males had a median income of $25,208 versus $20,368 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,877. Below the poverty line were 25.5% of people, 22.8% of families, 28.4% of those under 18 and 26.5% of those over 64.

[edit] Recent News

La Jara was in the news in May 2007 due to the high levels of racial tension in the town.

Four teens were pictured on MySpace.com giving the Nazi salute with one hand and holding rifles with the other.^[7] According to an article in The Valley Courier, the boys were upset with head basketball coach, Larry Joe Hunt, for their lack of playing time on the basketball court.^{[citation needed]}

Over Easter break, it is suspected that the boys raised a Confederate Flag on the school's flag pole.

Students staged a peaceful protest of the alleged highly-charged racist environment they have to deal with every day.

A column in The Denver Post addressed the underlying racist mentality of some people in the town^{[citation needed]}, specifically the views of local physician who referred to an African-American teen as a "colored boy," an outdated and extremely offensive term to many people.