History of Raton

Raton was founded at the site of Willow Springs, a stop on the Santa Fe Trail. The original 320 acres (1.3 km) for the Raton townsite were purchased from the Maxwell Land Grant in 1880. In 1879, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway bought a local toll road and established a busy rail line. Raton quickly developed as a railroad, mining and ranching center for the northeast part of the New Mexico territory, as well as the county seat and principal trading center of the area.

The city is mentioned in Jack Kerouac's famous novel On the Road