Raymer (New Raymer), CO

Raymer, known by the postal service as New Raymer, is a Weld County town on northeastern Colorado’s dry plains. Railroad tracks, dryland wheat, cattle country, and the search for reliable water define the local map. The original town was platted along the Colorado and Wyoming Railroad in 1888 and named for George Raymer, an assistant chief engineer. After the first settlement disappeared for nearly fifteen years, R. C. Pitcairn and other homesteaders replatted the site in 1909, and a new town plat was filed in 1910. The post office was re-established as New Raymer that same year to avoid confusion with Ramah, but Weld County continued to call the town Raymer. It incorporated in 1919 and reached its early peak during the 1920s.

Water scarcity shaped what happened next. The railroad well was initially the town’s only dependable source, and drought and economic depression in the 1930s thinned the town’s business district. A new well was finally dug in 1969, bringing running water to homes. Centre Avenue and Main Street still carry the civic story, with the State Bank, Star Filling Station, former groceries, and surrounding homesteads showing how the town served a broad farming and ranching district. Raymer’s two names are still part of the local scoop: the state uses Raymer, while mail addressed to New Raymer finds the place by its postal identity.