Hoehne (Hoe'-nee) is an old farming and ranching settlement northeast of Trinidad on the old Santa Fe Trail route in the Purgatoire River Valley. The original settlement probably happened here because the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad built a siding and water tower here. Perry Stokes Airport is just east of town. Hoehne was never an incorporated town but it does have a post office and an excellent (but small) school system that serves a pretty large area. The town used to be much more prosperous but the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression hit areas like this real hard, and most have not recovered. There's still some farming and ranching going on but these days, Hoehne is pretty much a bedroom community for Trinidad.
Several years ago the Colorado Department of Corrections built a minimum security prison several miles northeast of Hoehne on US 350. Further up the US 350 beyond the prison is the Army's Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, a quarter-million-acre property that looks just like those parts of the Middle East that aren't all covered in sand. The Army wants to add another half-million acres to it but there's a lot of resistance from all directions, including the State of Colorado.
Hoehne Mercantile and Post Office
Hoehne Schools
Another relic on Main Street in Hoehne
Lest we forget what Hoehne is really about...
