Branson

Branson lies just 1/4 of a mile north of the New Mexico border, but very far away from any major roads or highways. The closest town in Trinidad, which is about an hour away. There are only 74 people who currently call Branson home, although it wasn't always this small. The town started with the name of Wilson Switch (due to the switch in the railroad) and was later named Coloflats. In 1918 Josiah Branson plotted the town and named it after his surname. Dryland farming was popular in the early 1900s and the town had it's own newspaper, bank, and several grain elevators. At one time, the population was over 1,000. With the drought that hit much of this area of the country, the dust bowl had people searching for work in other places and the little town never really recovered.

When you drive through town, only the main street is paved. There are still signs of the past with older buildings such as the schoolhouse and a very old jail cell still standing. The newer school is made up of all brick and looks a little out of place amidst some of the run down houses and mobile homes scattered throughout town.

The one saving grace Branson has is it's online school. In addition to a traditional school, Branson School Online is a popular K-12 online school which is available to students throughout the state. It is one of the best online schools and is run through the local school district so it's not one of those for-profit online schools. One of the teachers for this school has won the Online Teacher of the Year Award several years running. Like most of the online teachers and students, she doesn't live in Branson. The school here buses children in from far away, so in order to cut down on expenses, they operate on a longer, four day school week. To maintain continuity, the online school operates the same way. I am very familiar with the online school as my children were students for several years. I ended up traditionally homeschooling them, but if I were to do an online school again I would go back to BSO. I would highly recommend anyone looking for an online school look into Branson. The teachers are pretty amazing and overall it was a very good experience.

58% of the males and 30% of the females in Branson work for the school district. The median household income here is $34,507 while the median home price is $82,937 making the cost of living incredible. However, I find it hard to believe many people would want to live here as there is nothing to do. Over 47% of the residents live below the poverty rate. There are some distant scenic views, but outside of that, Branson looks as if it will be almost desolate for years to come, even with the great school district.