miles upstream to a site near Las Animas. The new facility was completed in 1867 and the old site, including Bent's New Fort, was abandoned. Fort Lyon (1867–1897) In 1867, a new fort called Fort Lyon was built near the present-day town of Las Animas, Colorado. The U.S. Army used Fort Lyon until 1897, when they abandoned it after the end of the Indian Wars. Medical, prison, and psychiatric facilities In 1906, the U.S. Navy opened a sanatorium there to treat sailors and marines with tuberculosis. The dry climate and rest by isolation at the fort were thought to be beneficial by contemporary treatment methods. On 22 June 1922, the Veteran's Bureau assumed operations. In 1930, administration of the hospital was transferred to the newly created Veterans Administration. Within three years, the VA designated Fort Lyon a neuropsychiatry facility. In 2001 the hospital was closed and the facility was turned over to the state of Colorado for conversion to a minimum security prison. The prison was closed in 2011. In September 2013, Governor John Hickenlooper announced that Fort Lyon had reopened as an isolated transitional housing facility for homeless people with substance abuse issues operated by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. As of November 2018, there were over 200 clients there. See also Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site Fort Reynolds (Colorado) Notes References Further reading Available online, Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection. In 1871, Frances M.A. Roe accompanied her husband, Lieutenant Colonel Fayette Washington Roe (1850–1916), to his assignment at Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory. In this collection of letters, she describes their experiences while stationed at the fort. External links Fort Lyon National Cemetery State of Colorado Dept. of Corrections: Fort Lyon Buildings and structures in Bent County, Colorado Colonial Revival architecture in Colorado Government buildings completed in 1867 Infrastructure completed in 1867 Colorado in the American Civil War Lyon Native American history of Colorado Colorado Medical installations of the United States Navy 1867 establishments in Colorado Territory Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado National Register of Historic Places in Bent County, Colorado