Crime Scene & Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Simla Simla, CO

Simla is a statutory town in southern Elbert County, Colorado, about 48 miles northeast of Colorado Springs.

The town's population was 601 at the 2020 United States census, down slightly from 618 at the 2010 census.

The area was settled in the 1880s, the town was founded in 1909, and Simla was incorporated on January 15, 1912.

Simla was named after Simla, India, because the daughter of a railroad official was reading a book about India when she came across the name.

Simla grew as a shipping center for the area's potato harvest, and its first newspaper was started in 1911.

U.S. Route 24 passes through Simla, which sits south of Big Sandy Creek, a tributary of the Arkansas River, about 24 miles southwest of Limon.

At the 2000 census, Simla had 233 households.

Simla is served by the Big Sandy School District 100J, and Big Sandy High School's Cubs have won 11 team state championships across football, basketball, volleyball, and track and field.

Simla is the hometown of Glenn Morris, who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1936 Olympic Games, and of former NFL punter Barry Helton.

In December 2020, Simla gained national attention as the place where the first case of the so-called English variant of COVID-19 was diagnosed in the United States.