The original 320 acres (129.5 ha) 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.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.0 square miles (20.6 km2), all land.

The Raton Range is a 75-mile-long (121 km) ridge that extends east from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

[8] A well-preserved sequence of rocks spans the K-T boundary in Climax Canyon Park in Raton.

[8][10] It is interpreted to have caused the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which killed off dinosaurs and many other species of flora and fauna 66 million years ago.

Run to Raton, a motorcycle rally that includes camp-outs, vendors, free music, and a pin-up contest, takes place every July.

Raton was the site of New Mexico's first horse racetrack, La Mesa Park, which closed in 1992.