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National and State Register Properties
Many properties can be viewed under Heritage Attractions
Ruxton
COLORADO MILLENNIAL SITE/HACKBERRY/BLOODY SPRINGS
Ruxton vicinity
National Register 4/8/1980, 5BA.31
The site contains evidence of long and diverse human occupation through prehistoric and historic periods. The location offered a permanent water supply and a variety of natural shelters along the projecting bluff. The site also contains a large array of rock art whose range of styles demonstrates the evolution of rock art through time. An 1868 skirmish here between soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry and Cheyenne Indians was the last historically documented Plains Indian/military engagement in southeastern Colorado.
COMMERCIAL HOTEL (Stage Stop Hotel) View on Map
1033 Main St.
State Register 9/10/2003, 5BA.941
The Commercial Hotel / Hamilton Hotel is Springfield’s longest functioning and oldest surviving hotel. Opened in 1920, the hotel operated continuously up to the present. Known as the Commercial Hotel from 1920 to the mid-1930s, the hotel operated as the Hamilton Hotel from 1943 until 1970.
SPRINGFIELD SCHOOLHOUSE/SPRINGFIELD MASONIC TEMPLE View on Map
281 W. 7th Ave.
National Register 10/5/1977, 5BA.313
This 1889 rural schoolhouse was built with sandstone quarried east of town. It served as a school until 1920 when it became a Masonic Lodge. Listed under Rural School Buildings in Colorado Multiple Property Submission.
TWO BUTTES DAM View on Map
County Rd. 30, northeast of Springfield
State Register 3/8/1995, 5BA.39
The 1909 dam is significant for its engineering as an intact example of a turn-of-the-century earthen dam built to aid in irrigating portions of southeastern Colorado.
STONINGTON METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH View on Map
48854 County Rd. X
National Register 3/14/1996, 5BA.555
The 1917 church is architecturally significant as a good, intact example of the Late Gothic Revival style as executed by a local craftsman. It is the only identified example of this style in the county.
Las Animas
BENT COUNTY COURTHOUSE & JAIL Click to View on Map
725 Carson
National Register 1/2/1976, Additional Documentation 3/22/2001, 5BN.99
This architecturally significant building was constructed between 1886 and 1889. The imposing two-story red brick structure is trimmed extensively in stone. The second level includes corner towers with open arches. Directly linked to the judicial and social history of the adjacent courthouse, the 1902 jail served as the county’s processing and holding facility for 98 years.
BOGGSVILLE View on Map
Colo. Hwy. 101, south of Las Animas
National Register 10/24/1986, 5BN.363
Founded in 1866, Boggsville is one of Colorado’s earliest extant agricultural and trade centers. The 1866 Boggs House and the recently restored 1867 Prowers House are among the earliest documented examples of Territorial architecture in the state.
FORT LYON
Junction of Bent County Rd. 15 and Fort Lyon Gate Rd., Las Animas vicinity
National Register 5/5/2004, 5BN.117
Fort Lyon is important for its role as an army post, a navy hospital, and a veterans’ hospital. Beginning in 1867, the fort served as part of the army’s Department of the Missouri, a regional network of forts and military facilities in the Missouri River drainage. The navy took control of the fort in 1906, adapting and greatly expanding the army post to serve a medical facility. The hospital provided tubercular care to sailors and marines until 1922, with all funding for operations and construction obtained through appropriations from the Department of the Navy. The navy pursued a policy of self-sufficiency for the institution, which is reflected by the development of the associated agricultural fields, irrigation system and support structures. In 1922 the Veterans’ Bureau, later the Veterans’ Administration, assumed control of the facility, expanded the hospital complex, and opened its services to all active and retired personnel and their families in all branches of the military service.
Fort Lyon is important in Colorado ethnic heritage. First, the property is important for its association with Native Americans during the earliest period of the fort’s operation beginning in 1868. Second, the property is significant for its association with African Americans, specifically the all-black Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry stationed at Fort Lyon in the late 1860s and 1870s. Third, the property is significant for its association with those of European origins, specifically as the fort was used to treat World War I German naval prisoners suffering from tuberculosis.
Finally, Fort Lyon is architecturally significant for its set of standardized VA hospital buildings. Constructed during the period 1929 through 1945, these building types are best expressed in the group of multi-story Georgian Rival style, brick buildings adjacent to the parade ground.
GRAHAM HOUSE
505 Locust Ave.
State Register 12/10/1997, 5BN.453
Built in 1900, the house is an excellent local example of the Queen Anne style as applied to a moderate sized, one-and-one-half story frame dwelling.
I.O.O.F. HALL, LODGE NO. 11
560 Bent Ave.
State Register 3/10/1999, 5BN.466
The 1889 stone building is a good example of late 19th century commercial architecture and represents the return of prosperity to this agricultural community following the depression of the early 1890s. The building served a fraternal organization of men and women, providing them with mutual support and social activities while fostering participation in community charities.
KING SOLOMON’S LODGE MASONIC TEMPLE
506 Carson Ave.
State Register 12/10/1997, 5BN.452
Constructed between 1909-1918, the building’s brick and concrete block masonry exterior, simple Neo-Classical design incorporating Masonic symbols, and typical interior arrangement and finish reflect standard Masonic-related construction adapted to a small town setting in the early 20th century.
LAS ANIMAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH
502 Locust
State Register 5/14/1997, 5BN.449
The 1920 building is an example of the "Akron Plan" of church design popular for a short period of time in the early 1900s.
LAS ANIMAS POST OFFICE
513 6th St.
National Register 1/16/2008, 5BN.591
The post office building is associated with President Roosevelt’s New Deal legislative agenda and the efforts of the federal government to bring America out of the Great Depression. Rather than being a project of a New Deal construction agency, the post office represents a direct relief project of the Treasury Department. The construction of new post offices allowed the federal government to assist communities through the purchase of materials and the creation of construction jobs. The project also provided Las Animas with its first purpose-built post office. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of the Supervising Architect under the direction of Louis A. Simon designed the simple, traditional, and restrained building with its high quality materials throughout. It has been the only post office in Las Animas since it opened in 1938. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources on Colorado’s Eastern Plains Multiple Property Submission. (2006 photograph)
Full nomination (PDF, 532kb)
LAS ANIMAS SANTA FE RAILROAD DEPOT
333 8th St.
State Register 5/14/1997, 5BN.415
The 1908 depot is associated with both passenger and freight railroad transportation in the Las Animas area. It is a good intact example of the Santa Fe Railroad’s Brick Standard Plan depot design.
Prowers
PROWERS BRIDGE
County Rd. 34
National Register 2/4/1985, 5BN.374
Originally a pile bridge, constructed by the Kansas City Bridge Company in 1900, trusses added by the Pueblo Bridge Company include: a 1902 Pratt through truss, a 1906 Pratt through truss on the south portal, three 1909 long-span Camelback through truss on the north portal, and a 1921 Pratt pony after flooding destroyed the north approach. Enduring numerous floods, it is the oldest bridge over the lower Arkansas River and is Colorado’s longest trussed crossing with the most successive spans. The property is associated with the Highway Bridges in Colorado Multiple Property Submission.
Crowley
CROWLEY CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL View on Map
200 Main St.
State Register 6/9/1999, 5CW.27
Constructed in 1920, the building represents a second stage of rural school construction, reflecting the development of facilities that addressed the needs of high school students. Its larger size, two-story brick construction and inverted T-shaped plan, which included a gymnasium at the rear, is typical of the type of building rural communities constructed for educational facilities that went beyond the eighth grade.
CROWLEY SCHOOL View on Map
301 Main St.
State Register 3/10/1993, National Register 7/28/1999, 5CW.26
Constructed in 1914, the one-story, red brick building has a raised basement. Architectural details include trios of round arched windows and a large ornate wood shingled bell tower. It is the only known example of the Second Renaissance Revival style in the county. The school is also the oldest public building in Crowley County. Vacant for fifteen years, a restoration project that began in 1994 enabled it to reopen as a community center, municipal facility, and museum.
Eads
AMERICAN LEGION HALL
Kiowa County Fairground, US Hwy. 287, Eads vicinity
National Register 12/11/2007, 5KW.87
The American Legion Hall represents the success of local residents and federal relief programs administered on Colorado’s eastern plains during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Providing much-needed employment in Kiowa County, local workers constructed the building between 1937 and 1938 under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The hall is a rare surviving example of a simple, vernacular building built by the New Deal agency. The building exemplifies the efforts of the WPA to boost moral during the Depression through the construction of buildings that could be enjoyed by the entire community. The building provides a venue for community gatherings, dances, receptions, and other events, and is part of the entertainment and recreational activities during the annual Kiowa County Fair.
Full nomination (PDF, 460kb)
NIPPS-BRANSGROVE BUILDING
1307 Maine
State Register 5/14/1997, 5KW.56
This 1912 building, a local commercial center and gathering place, reflects the common practice of the repeated modernization of commercial buildings. A Depression-era remodeling stuccoed the original ornamental concrete block exterior walls. A 1950s facelift covered the stucco with an artificial stone cladding, a popular and durable mid-century material.
SAND CREEK MASSACRE SITE - View on Map
(Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site)
Near junction of County. Rd. 54 and County Rd. W, Eads vicinity
National Register 9/28/2001, 5KW.28
The site is nationally important for its association with the November 29, 1864, Sand Creek Massacre. This event represents a major turning point in Indian-white relations on the western frontier during the last half of the 19th century. It had devastating effects upon Cheyenne and Arapaho familial and social structures and was a catalyst for years of ensuing U.S. Army-Indian warfare throughout the central plains. The site has yielded important information supporting, in broad terms, oral tradition and historical documentation, and it is likely to yield new information regarding U.S. military and American Indian conflicts. The Sand Creek Masacre National Historic Site will officially open to the public on June 1, 2007. The park will be open on a limited schedule. Check with the National Park Service for days and times of operation.
HASWELL JAIL View on Map
211 Main St.
State Register 12/11/1996, 5KW.50
Constructed in 1921, this small, 14 by 16 foot, concrete jail is one of the few public buildings ever constructed in Haswell. Not in use since the 1940s, the unaltered building remains as a visible local landmark.
La Junta
BENT’S OLD FORT NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE View on Map
Colo. Hwy. 194, northeast of La Junta
National Historic Landmark 12/19/1960, National Register 10/15/1966, Additional documentation 7/5/1985, 5OT.149
This site northeast of La Junta once contained Bent’s Old Fort, an important trading post near the Arkansas River along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail. Constructed around 1833 by brothers Charles and William Bent and partner Ceran St. Vrain, the fort occupied an area that at that time was the border between the United States and newly independent Mexico. The fort became the foci where Hispano, Euro-American, and the various Plains Indian tribes, of which the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho, and Comanche were the most prominent, interacted. The reconstructed adobe fort on the historic site dates to the mid-1970s.
ELKS LODGE #701
119 Colorado Ave.
State Register 12/13/1995, 5OT.548
The Elks Lodge #701 building has served as the headquarters of La Junta’s primary fraternal service organization since the lodge’s establishment in 1901. The building exhibits an intact and well executed 1950 facade modernization.
DR. FRANK FINNEY HOUSE
608 Belleview Ave.
National Register 5/17/1984, 5OT.102
Dr. Frank Finney’s 1899 house exhibits the most lavishly detailed exterior in this Plains community. The house with its rich interior trim is La Junta’s best example of Colonial Revival architecture. Architect Walter Dubree designed the residence.
WILSON A. HART HOUSE
802 Raton Ave.
National Register 5/31/1979, 5OT.96
Wilson A. Hart paid $2,000 in 1898 for the construction of the house as a wedding present for his wife, Mary. The eclectic brick and wood structure represents local interpretations of late Victorian architectural styles. Hart was a well-known local banker, insurance salesman, and real estate agent.
KIT CARSON HOTEL
123 Colorado Ave.
State Register 12/13/1995, 5OT.468
The creation of the Kit Carson Hotel represents an important part of the social history of La Junta during the Great Depression. Members of Elks Lodge #701 converted the 1906 commercial building into an Art Deco style hotel in 1933 as a project to employ out of work lodge members.
KOSHARE KIVA MUSEUM View on Map
115 W. 18th St.
State Register 12/13/1995, 5OT.550
The 1948 museum (with additions in 1958 and 1980) is a good example of the Pueblo Revival style. It is the only identified example of the style in Otero County. With its open span crib roof, the round ceremonial room section is a rare example of Hogan-type construction.
LA JUNTA CITY PARK
Colorado Ave. and 10th St., La Junta
National Register 4/24/2007, 5OT.937
Constructed between 1933 and 1941, the park demonstrates the importance of federal relief programs in Colorado during the Great Depression. The Civil Works Administration project focused on drainage in the park, while the later Works Progress Administration projects involved extensive landscaping that included building the lake; planting trees and building drives; and constructing rustic stone walls, benches and buildings. La Junta City Park is the primary park for the community. Although the land was donated to the city in 1905, few improvements were made. The New Deal projects converted an underutilized and poorly drained park into a location for active and passive recreation. The park exemplifies WPA design influenced by the Rustic style. Characteristic elements of the style seen in the park include the use of native stone, traditional construction methods, simple functional design, and evident hand craftsmanship, such as the beaded grapevine mortar joints. The materials and construction methods reflect public relief work programs designed to be labor intensive. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission. (Photographs 2006)
Full nomination (PDF, 788kb)
LA JUNTA POST OFFICE View on Map
4th & Colorado Ave.
National Register 7/12/1976, 5OT.94
The new La Junta Post Office opened in 1916, and the Spanish Colonial Revival structure quickly became the architectural focal point of the community.
LINCOLN SCHOOL
300 block W. 3rd St.
National Register 9/13/1978, 5OT.95
Pueblo architects Walter DeMordaunt and John Gray designed the 1937 Lincoln School annex to complement the existing 1883 and 1903 Lincoln School building. The irregular plan and roof lines, the roughly patterned brick work on the exterior and interior, and the warm colors of the brick and tile contributed to this modern interpretation of Spanish and Mediterranean architecture.
NORTH LA JUNTA SCHOOL (North School)
Colo. Hwy. 109 & 194 (Main & Trail)
National Register 6/25/1992, 5OT.276
Completed in 1914, the school served the educational needs of North La Junta families and also provided a social meeting place for the community. The design of the school, attributed to Walter Dubree, is representative of school buildings constructed in the area during the early part of the 20th century.
EUGENE ROURKE HOUSE
619 Carson St.
National Register 5/9/1983, 5OT.175
Eugene Rourke, prominent settler, rancher and businessman in the La Junta area, had this house constructed for his family in 1898. The residence exhibits the architectural transition between late Victorian eclecticism and the Colonial Revival style. Interesting features include the original two-story Colonial Revival portico, and the Queen Anne style tower and iron roof cresting.
SAN JUAN AVENUE HISTORIC DISTRICT
501-521 & 522 San Juan Ave.
National Register 8/27/1980, 5OT.97
The seven well-preserved Queen Anne style residences within the district were constructed between 1896 and 1905, as the town recovered from an economic depression. A variety of materials were used in the construction of these one- and two-story dwellings.
DANIEL SCIUMBATO GROCERY STORE View on Map
706 Second St.
National Register 5/17/1984, 5OT.91
The circa 1908 Sciumbato Grocery is one of the earliest and most intact neighborhood grocery stores in La Junta. This type of commercial structure characterized residential neighborhoods from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Also typical of the period is the attached residence of the store owner.
ST. PATRICK’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
7th & Raton
State Register 12/9/1998, 5OT.709
Now the Holy Cross Lutheran Church, the Late Gothic Revival style church and rectory were designed by prominent Denver architect John K. Monroe. Monroe served for many years as the principal architect for the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver and designed numerous churches, schools, and other archdiocesan structures throughout northern Colorado. Constructed in 1941, St. Patrick’s is one of Monroe’s earliest commissions, and it is his only known church project in southeastern Colorado.
VOGEL CANYON View on Map
Comanche National Grasslands
State Register 12/13/1995, 5OT.551
This 500-acre archaeological district includes sites containing prehistoric rock art, architecture, artifacts, and refuse.
SANTA FE RAILWAY MANZANOLA DEPOT
212 N. Grand
State Register 3/10/2004, National Register 4/28/2004, 5OT.421
The 1913 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway provided the gateway for passengers traveling to and from the community during much of the twentieth century. Serving both as a freight and passenger depot, the Manzanola facility coordinated shipments to and from local merchants and producers. The building is an excellent intact example of the Santa Fe’s County Seat-type of combination passenger and freight depots. Built to replace older first generation depots, the brick County Seat-type featured solid brick construction, functional convenience, and Mission Revival inspired styling which reflected both the operational area served by the railroad and its adopted corporate image.
ADOBE STABLES, ARKANSAS VALLEY FAIRGROUNDS View on Map
800 N. 9th St.
National Register 12/26/2007, 5OT.478
The Adobe Stables, constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), are an important record of the federal relief programs administered on Colorado’s eastern plains during the Great Depression. The stables were one of a series of WPA improvement projects at the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds that provided a significant source of employment. It is the best surviving example of WPA work in Rocky Ford. The WPA used adobe for many of its eastern Colorado projects as it was both inexpensive and labor intensive — a good fit with the agency’s objectives to ensure that most of the money went to labor rather than materials. As most adobe was stuccoed, the exposed adobe walls of the stables allow an uncommon opportunity to examine the construction methods more closely. The stables, a rare example of exposed adobe WPA construction, remained in use until the 1990s. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources on Colorado’s Eastern Plains Multiple Property Submission. (2006 photograph)
Full nomination (PDF, 2.77MB)
ART BUILDING View on Map
Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds
National Register 9/27/1996, 5OT.457
This 1901 building is associated with the development of the Arkansas Valley Fair, an annual event important to the social history of the area. It is a well-preserved example of a building constructed in the Octagon Mode, a building type that enjoyed a measure of popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
CARNEGIE PUBLIC LIBRARY (Rocky Ford Historical Museum) View on Map
1005 Sycamore St.
National Register 11/7/1995, 5OT.193
The 1908 building reflects the nationwide public library movement sponsored by steel manufacturer and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. The building is an interesting combination of locally-produced ornamental concrete block (also called "artificial stone") and brick, and represents the initial appearance of Neo-Classical architecture in Rocky Ford. Architect Walter Dubree designed the building.
GRAND THEATRE View on Map
405 S. Main St.
State Register 9/10/1997, 5OT.577
Constructed in 1935, the Grand Theatre is important for its long term use as a local entertainment center and for its ability to convey changes in movie theater design. Its modernized facade, neon marquee, and portions of the lobby area date from 1950, while much of the original 1935 Art Deco interior detailing remains intact.
ROCKY FORD POST OFFICE
401 N. 9th St.
National Register 1/16/2008, 5OT.935
A project of the Public Works Administration (PWA), the Rocky Ford Post Office is associated with President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislative agenda. The federal government used the construction of new post offices to aid the economy through expenditures for materials and construction crews. The only PWA project in Rocky Ford, it provided the town with its first purpose-built post office. Designed by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of the Supervising Architect under the direction of Louis A. Simon, the Neo-classically-inspired building is simple and restrained. It has been the only post office in Rocky Ford since it opened in 1936. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources on Colorado’s Eastern Plains Multiple Property Submission. (1983 photograph)
Full nomination (PDF, 728kb)
VROMAN SCHOOL
14519 W. Hwy. 50, Rocky Ford vicinity
State Register 12/11/1996, 5OT.557
This 1918 two-story brick school, with a large auditorium, functioned well as a community center and remains virtually intact. Denver architects Mountjoy, French and Frewen incorporated a passive solar heat circulation system into this well-executed example of the Mediterranean Revival style.
Granada
DOUGLAS CROSSING BRIDGE View on Map
County Rd. 28
National Register 2/4/1985, 5PW.44
Constructed in 1936 of locally quarried stone by an eight-man Works Progress Administration crew, this filled arch was faced with rusticated stone and features six, 14-foot span, semicircular arches springing from battered piers. It served as an important crossing for the nearby agricultural community. The property is associated with the Highway Bridges in Colorado and the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submissions.
GRANADA BRIDGE
US Hwy. 385, Granada vicinity
National Register 10/15/2002, 5PW.114
Designed by the Colorado Department of Highways, fabricated by Burkhardt Steel Company, and constructed by C.L. Hubner Company, the 1949 steel stringer bridge runs for 423 feet across the Arkansas River. It was one of several bridges constructed over the river during the 1930s and 1940s that replaced timber or steel trusses constructed between 1890 and 1910. Consisting of five spans, the longest of which extends 90 feet, the bridge is notable for its relatively long spans and excellent state of preservation. Listed under Highway Bridges in Colorado Multiple Property Submission.
GRANADA RELOCATION CENTER / CAMP AMACHE View on Map
Approximately 1 mile southwest of Granada
State Register 3/9/1994, National Register 5/18/1994, National Historick Landmark, 1/16/2009,
5PW.48
The site is nationally significant as one of ten camps which housed Japanese Americans from 1942 to 1945 following their forced removal from the West Coast by military authorities. More than ten thousand persons passed through the camp which at its peak contained 7,318 Japanese Americans, nearly all of whom were former California residents and two-thirds of whom were United States citizens. Under a presidential executive order, the forced "evacuation" of Japanese Americans was justified on the basis of "military necessity" in the months following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the professed inability of the military to gauge the loyalty of individual Japanese Americans.
Full nomination (PDF, 14.24MB)
HARTMAN GYMNASIUM View on Map
School Ave.
State Register 3/13/1996, 5PW.74
The circa 1938 gymnasium is associated with New Deal programs in Prowers County. The building is the only example of Works Progress Administration construction in Hartman and one of only a few such projects in the county. Its use as a community center continues to contribute to the social history of Hartman.
HOLLY CITY HALL
119 E. Cheyenne St.
State Register 6/11/2003, National Register 10/11/2003, 5PW.175
The 1938 Holly City Hall held the town's police and fire departments, library, and a multi-use community room. The Holly City Hall served effectively for over sixty years as an important center of town life. The Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) used local labor and materials to construct the hall as a town sponsored project. The building typifies the simple but dignified designs used by the WPA for city hall and courthouse construction. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission.
HOLLY GYMNASIUM
North Main Street, Holly
National Register 4/24/2007, 5PW.268
Built under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, the building is associated with the federal relief programs administered in Eastern Colorado during the Great Depression. Providing employment and increased job skills for the area’s unemployed, construction began on the Holly Gym in 1936 utilizing a locally quarried chalk–-like stone–Niobrara. The WPA created an opportunity to provide the town with a more “progressive” educational facility. This was the first school gymnasium in Holly, which not only functioned for athletic education, but was also used for music classes and the hot lunch program. This building was the community’s first modern recreational facility. The Holly Gym reflects the functional design and use of local materials that is characteristic of WPA buildings. Some of the largest examples of New Deal resources in eastern Colorado were the prominent auditorium/gymnasium buildings. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission. (Photographs 2006)
Full nomination (PDF, 1.14MB)
HOLLY SS RANCH BARN View on Map
407 W. Vinson
National Register 2/25/2004, 5PW.172
The 1879 Holly SS Ranch Barn was part of the earliest period of settlement and development of Prowers County by farmers and ranchers. The SS Ranch with one of the earliest and largest cattle ranches in the region. Hiram Holly established the ranch at a time when Colorado’s early dependence on mining ventures increasingly gave way to agricultural development. The ultimate inception of the town of Holly was an outgrowth of the Holly SS Ranch. The barn is one of the earliest and most well preserved stone barns in southeast Colorado, displaying the construction techniques, architectural details, and material usage of the pioneering period in Colorado. Native stone construction constitutes an important late nineteenth and early twentieth century building tradition in southeastern Colorado.
HOLLY SANTA FE DEPOT (Town Hall) View on Map
302 S. Main St.
National Register 7/28/1995, 5PW.73
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad built the brick second-generation depot in 1912. The Mission Revival style building was a combination-type depot, handling both passengers and freight. It is one of only four in Colorado possessing the Mission Revival style detailing that became a trademark of the Santa Fe. The community converted the building in 1999 to serve as its town hall. The property is associated with the Railroads in Colorado, 1858-1948 Multiple Property Submission.
ALTA VISTA SCHOOL
8785 Road LL, vicinity of Lamar
State Register 6/9/1999, 5PW.42
Constructed in 1917, the two-level red brick building remains a good local example of a rural school district’s commitment to provide the space required to offer its students a broader educational program than found in the one-room building it replaced. The building has remained in continuous use as a public school since its construction and now houses the Alta Vista Charter School.
DAVIES HOTEL / PAYNE HOTEL
122 N. Main St.
National Register 10/19/1978, 5PW.25
The Davies Hotel is typical of the numerous small town hotels whose location near the railroad depot provided them with a steady stream of lodgers. The builders of the 1902 hotel utilized locally quarried sandstone for the exterior walls.
LAMAR POST OFFICE
300 S. Fifth St.
National Register 1/22/1986, 5PW.43
Built in 1936, the building is an especially pleasing example illustrating the Spanish Colonial/Mediterranean influence on Neoclassicism. Pueblo architect Walter DeMordaunt designed the building. The property is associated with the U.S. Post Offices in Colorado and the New Deal Resources of Colorado’s Eastern Plains Multiple Property Submissions.
PAULSEN FARM
39035 Rd. 7, Lamar vicinity
National Register 12/9/1999, 5PW.98
The property has been associated with agriculture in the Lamar area since Claus Paulsen established the farm in 1901. Between 1910 and 1915, Paulsen represented the Payne Investment Company of Omaha, Nebraska, and in this capacity escorted would-be homesteaders from the Midwest to new homes in southeast Colorado. The farmhouse is a good local example of the Foursquare-type of dwelling. The barn is an important surviving example of a once popular but increasingly rare type of wood frame gambrel-roofed barn, a type often replaced by more modern agricultural buildings or lost with the transformation of agricultural lands to other uses.
PETTICREW STAGE STOP
Lamar vicinity
State Register 3/8/2000, National Register 8/24/2000, 5PW.62
In the early 1890s, the John L. Petticrew family settled in southern Prowers County and operated a stage stop between Lamar and Springfield. The house, barn and associated rock walls are good, intact examples of sandstone construction utilizing locally quarried stone as designed and executed by the property owner. The barn is also a rare surviving example of a stone bank barn. The complex is notable as a cultural landscape in which the sandstone buildings and retaining walls appear to spring organically from the natural shelter and seclusion of the creek bottom. The recessed location blocks views of modern intrusions and enhances the historical feeling of the complex as an isolated stop on the Lamar to Springfield stage.
PROWERS COUNTY BUILDING / PROWERS COUNTY COURTHOUSE View on Map
301 S. Main St.
National Register 9/21/1981, 5PW.27
The 1929 courthouse served as the center of county political and governmental activity. Denver architect Robert K. Fuller designed the elegant Neo-classical building constructed of Indiana limestone. The entrance and main corridor frieze feature panels displaying carved depictions of the registered cattle brands in Prowers County at the time of the building’s construction.
WILLOW CREEK PARK View on Map
Memorial Drive, Parkview Ave. and Willow Valley Rd., Lamar
National Register 8/10/2007, 5PW.56
The park is associated with several Great Depression era federal relief programs. Constructed between 1933 and 1938 under the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), creation of the park provided a source of employment in Lamar during much of the Depression. Willow Creek Park was Colorado’s first CWA project and the first planned park in Lamar, providing a location for active and passive recreation activities. A prominent feature of the city, the park’s buildings and stone features are good examples of the Rustic style as interpreted by New Deal agencies. Characteristics include the use of native stone; traditional construction methods; evident hand craftsmanship; and simple functional design. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission. (Photograph 2006)
Full nomination (PDF, 1.25MB)
WILEY ROCK SCHOOLHOUSE View on Map
603 Main St.
National Register 2/20/2004, 5PW.196
The 1938 building served as an annex to the adjacent high school and provided space for classes in agriculture, a blacksmith shop for manual training, and a sound-proof music room for the band and orchestra. While successfully serving these purposes, the building went on to provide other educational opportunities. The Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) undertook the construction of the school district sponsored project. The school typifies the WPA’s use of local labor and local materials. The simple stone building exhibits creative masonry technique and quality craftsmanship. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources on Colorado’s Eastern Plains Multiple Property Submission.
Branson
PLEASANT VALLEY SCHOOL
County Road 142 just south of US Hwy. 160, Branson vicinity
National Register listed 8/13/2008, 5LA.11144
Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1938, the Pleasant Valley School presents an important visual record of the federal relief programs administered in Colorado’s eastern plains during the Great Depression. Though the dire economic conditions of the Depression affected all of Colorado, drought and dust storms hit the agricultural-based economy of the Eastern Plains especially hard. President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislative agenda to rescue the United States from the Great Depression included the creation of an unprecedented number of policies, programs, and agencies to provide relief, employment, conserve natural resources, and assist in construction of public works—all with the greater goal of stimulating the devastated economy. Criticized by some as make-work boondoggles, WPA projects such as the construction of the school provided much-needed employment in an isolated, rural area of Las Animas County where little other work was available. The stonework displays the labor-intensive, hand-craftsmanship associated with the WPA and often referred to as WPA Rustic style. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources on Colorado’s Eastern Plains and Rural School Buildings in Colorado Multiple Property Submissions. (2007 photograph)
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Kim
KIM SCHOOLS View on Map
425 State St., Kim
National Register 4/24/2007, 5LA.1815
Three stone buildings, a gymnasium flanked by an elementary and a high school, represent the work of several New Deal relief programs administered in eastern Colorado. Constructed over an eight-year period, the buildings provided employment in Kim during much of the Great Depression. Construction on the gymnasium began in December 1933 as a Civil Works Administration project. It was completed in the spring of 1935 after being transferred to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration
and finished by a Works Progress Administration project. The school district submitted a successful WPA application for the 1937 elementary school. The WPA approved a third project in 1938 for the county high school building, which was dedicated in January 1941. These were the first substantial education buildings constructed in Kim. Built from locally quarried stone with framing materials salvaged from buildings demolished at Fort Lyon, they are excellent examples of New Deal Rustic design with craftsmanship, materials, and construction methods reflecting their origin as public works programs designed to provide employment. The three buildings remain the center of local education and community activities. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources in Eastern Colorado Multiple Property Submission. (Photographs of High School and Gymnasium, 2006)
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WHITE SCHOOL
Intersection of County roads 191 and 30, Kim vicinity
National Register 8/1/2008, 5LA.11139
Built in 1921 and expanded in 1936 under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the school exemplifies one-room schools constructed in eastern Las Animas County during the homesteading boom of the 1910s and 1920s. The school addition and its adjacent WPA-constructed barn, intended to store coal and shelter student’s horses, reflect Depression era New Deal efforts to improve rural education facilities in eastern Las Animas County. The WPA constructed new schools and barns for several rural school districts and repaired the facilities of many others. Constructed for a small school district with minimal matching funds, the project typifies WPA efforts to improve education and to help small communities with limited resources. The buildings are good examples of WPA Rustic design applied to a simple barn and a school addition. The similarity of the stonework of the original building and the addition shows how WPA construction drew strongly on local building traditions. The stonework displays the labor-intensive, hand-craftsmanship associated with the WPA and often referred to as WPA Rustic style. The work crew quarried and finished all the stone. The property is associated with the New Deal Resources on Colorado’s Eastern Plains and Rural School Buildings in Colorado Multiple Property Submissions. (2007 photograph)
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Information courtesy of the Colorado Historical Society. www.historycolorado.org.
