Editing Alamosa, Colorado (section)

==History==
The Alamosa, Colorado, post office opened on March 12, 1878,<ref name=CPO>{{cite book|title=Colorado Post Offices 1859–1989|first1=William H.|last1=Bauer|first2=James L.|last2=Ozment|first3=John H.|last3=Willard|date=1990|publisher=[[Colorado Railroad Museum|Colorado Railroad Historical Foundation]]|location=[[Golden, Colorado]]|isbn=0-918654-42-4}}</ref> and the Town of Alamosa was incorporated on August 12, 1878.<ref name=MuniIncCO/> The town was established by the [[Denver and Rio Grande Railroad]] and quickly became an important rail center.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOTa5gUx4x0C&q=Monte+Vista%2C+Colorado&pg=PT311 | title=John Fielder's Best of Colorado | publisher=Big Earth Publishing | year=2002 | access-date=November 4, 2013 | author=Fielder, John | pages=310| isbn=9781565794290 }}</ref>  Alamosa was the terminus of the D&RG until 1881, when the line was extended to Monte Vista.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alamosa Historic Marker at 300 Hunt Ave |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=160914 |access-date=October 31, 2022 |website=Historical Marker Database}}</ref> The railroad had an extensive construction, repair, and shipping facility in Alamosa for many years and headquartered its remaining [[narrow-gauge railway|narrow-gauge]] service here with trackage reaching many points throughout southwest Colorado and northern [[New Mexico]]. [[Alamosa County, Colorado|Alamosa County]] was created on March 8, 1913, with Alamosa as its first and only seat.

Alamosa is now a notable tourist town with many nearby attractions, including the [[Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve]], [[Colorado Gators Reptile Park]], and the [[Rio Grande Scenic Railroad]]. The town hosts "Summer Fest on the Rio" which occurs the first weekend in June, the Early Iron car show over the Labor Day weekend, and "Weekends on the Rio" on various Sundays throughout the summer<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weekendsontherio.com/|title=Weekends on the Rio|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630162121/http://www.weekendsontherio.com/|archive-date=June 30, 2017}}</ref>  The city takes its name from the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] [[adjective]] ''Alamosa'', meaning "of [[Populus sect. Aegiros|cottonwood]]", for the cottonwood forests which grow along the [[Rio Grande]] and throughout town.<ref name=placenames>{{cite book| title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States| publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office| year=1905| pages=[https://archive.org/details/origincertainpl00ganngoog/page/n25 19]| author=Gannett, Henry| url=https://archive.org/details/origincertainpl00ganngoog}}</ref>