Sopris, Colorado
An undated photo of Sopris's Little Italy neighborhood. Sopris, located in the Southern Colorado coalfields, was established in 1889. The town's neighborhoods grew up around the mines, and were largely populated by immigrants--including many from Mexico and Italy--and their descendants. From 1968 to 1970, the US Army Corps of Engineers bought out the town and displaced its residents to make way for Trinidad Dam and Lake.
About this community
- Dam
- Trinidad Dam
- River
- Purgatoire River
- Established
- 1873
- Inundated
- 1972
The community that was displaced
- Displacement cost
- $16,895,244
- Property value
- $972,906
- Vocations
- farmer, fisherman, rancher
- Birthplaces
- local
Sources
- Genevieve Faoro-Johannsen and Robert D. Vigil Jr., Lost Sopris (2024).
- https://latinohistoryproject.org/primary_source_set/sopris-trinidad-las-animas-county/
- https://gazette.com/2025/06/01/soul-of-sopris-remembering-a-colorado-town-now-under-water/