Fruita Colorado

Fruita is a beautiful little agricultural community in Mesa County which sits at the foot of the Colorado National Monument. It has been a part of the western slope for over a century, and some of the current residents can trace their family heritage back to the start. In 1882, the Laphams came to the area and are thought to be the first permanent homesteaders. Two years later, after many attempts to organize the community, in 1884 William E. Pabor established the town and the Fruita Town and Land Company to begin selling lots. The vision of prosperous fruit orchards and families working together was promoted and began to take shape in the Grand Valley over the subsequent years.

More Town Facts

Region: Northwest	County: Mesa
Latitude: 39.156594	Longitude: -108.724554	Elevation: 4,514 ft (1,376 m)

Fruita is in the outskirts of Grand Junction, and has the distinction of being the community responsible for constructing the spectacular Rim Rock Drive which ascends the mountains of Colorado National Monument to a top elevation of 8,000 ft. overlooking the entire Grand Valley. The Fruita area is the home of many native species of animals including eagles, mule deer and the Colorado State Animal – the Bighorn Sheep. In addition to the outdoor activities and hiking and mountain biking trails, the town is the home of the Dinosaur Journey Museum. This museum chronicles the local archeology, paleontology and geology and directs you to some pretty interesting fossil records nearby, like Dinosaur Hill.

Elmer Riggs is credited with discovering incredible skeletal remains of dinosaurs as well as fossils at Dinosaur Hill in 1900, when he and his crew recovered the first known skeleton of the giant sauropod dinosaur Brachiosaurus Altithorax. In 1901 they found a specimen of Apatosaurus in the same area near Fruita, which went on display at the Chicago Field Museum. From these specimens he named the Brachiosaurus declaring it “the largest known dinosaur”. Because he was from Chicago’s Field Museum, the discoveries were transported back to his state and don’t reside in Colorado, but the Dinosaur Hill site is still available to see and enjoy.

A few other famous individuals associated with Fruita were John Otto, early proponent and first superintendent of the Colorado National Monument, author and naturalist Will Minor and popular African-American cowhand Charlie Glass, who passed away in 1936.