Merino, Colorado

Back in the 1860s there was a stage stop named "Fort Wicked" in the vicinity of what is now Merino. In the early days, folks came to farm and hunt. Then the railroad arrived. The original name of the railroad siding was "Buffalo" but that was soon was changed to "Merino" and a town grew up on the northwest side of the tracks. For a while, there was a large sugar beet plant, a pickle receiving station and many smaller businesses in Merino.

Today, much of the old business area is abandoned. The grocery store and Shaw's Hotel were remodeled into a sculptor's studio and there is a bar down the street but most of the rest of the old town is empty. Across the tracks is the home of Wisdom Manufacturing, one of the very few carnival ride manufacturers in the world.

The Merino Post Office