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Costilla County
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San Luis Valley Southern Railway Trestle The Costilla Estates Development Company, a business organized to sell lands within the Sangre de Cristo Land Grant, built the 32-mile San Luis Valley Southern Railway. This trestle, an excellent example of timber stringer standard gauge railroad bridge construction, was built in 1910 and carried freight and passenger service until 1939. It is the only remaining SLVS trestle. The property is associated with the Railroads in Colorado Multiple Property Submission.
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Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción is significant for Hispanic Heritage as the social and religious center for the Chama community. The church is the location for ongoing culture use and the site of repeated community gatherings since the community members constructed the church in 1938. It meets the requirements under the Culebra River Villages of Costilla County Multiple Property Documentation Form. (2002 photograph.)
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Fort Garland Fort Garland is important for its association with the settlement of the San Luis Valley and southern Colorado. Built in 1858, the fort served as a base of military operations until it was abandoned in 1883. Company G of the Ninth Cavalry, a unit of Buffalo Soldiers, operated out of the fort from the spring of 1876 until September 1879. The Buffalo Soldiers were African American troopers who received their nickname from Southern Plains Indians who perceived similarities between the soldiers’ curly black hair and the matted fur between the horns of the buffalo. The Buffalo Soldiers saw scant military action through their brief assignment at Fort Garland. In 1876, troops marched to the La Plata region to prevent conflict between Ute Indians and white prospectors. History Colorado operates Fort Garland as one of its regional museums.
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The Garcia School is one of only a few adobe buildings remaining in what was once Plaza de los Manzanares, a settlement in the San Luis Valley dating to 1849. An exact construction date for the school is unknown, but it is believed to date to ca. 1913 when the property was sold to Costilla County School District Number Two under the express condition that it be used for a public school. The school closed its doors in 1963, but later served as a community library and Head Start program. The school is a rare example of a Territorial Adobe rural school which still maintains its architectural integrity, and it meets the registration requirements of the Rural School Buildings in Colorado Multiple Property Documentation Form. More information (PDF, 1.13 MB).
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Capilla de San Isidro is eligible in the area of Ethnic Heritage: Hispanic from 1894 to 1963 and in the area of Architecture for ca. 1894 and ca. 1940 at the local level of significance. As the social and religious center of the Los Fuertes community, the church is the location for ongoing cultural usage and the site of repeated community gatherings since the community constructed this church. The church is also a representative example of the Vernacular Churches and Parish Compound property type under the Multiple Property Documentation Form Culebra River Villages of Costilla County. More information (PDF, 1.6 MB).
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Capilla de Viejo San Acacio As the oldest continually used non-Native American religious space in Colorado, Capilla de Viejo San Acacio is significant for its Hispanic Heritage beginning in 1850. As the symbolic and actual center of the Viejo San Acacio community, the church and cemetery (capilla y campo santo) are the location for ongoing cultural use and the site of repeated community gatherings since the village formed circa 1850. Additionally, due to representations of a regional folk art tradition as expressed through hand-carved gravestones in the cemetery, it is artistically significant. It meets the requirements under the Culebra River Villages of Costilla County Multiple Property Documentation Form.
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San Acacio San Luis Southern Railway Depot Built in 1910, it is the largest depot constructed by the San Luis Southern Railway, a 32-mile standard gauge railroad built to serve the towns and farms planned by the Costilla Estates Development Company. The two-story depot also served as railway headquarters until 1950, and it is all that is left in San Acacio to represent the railroad and the company that created the town. The building is currently used as a bed and breakfast.
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Iglesia de San Francisco de Assisi Iglesia de San Francisco de Assisi is significant for Hispanic Heritage as the central gathering place for the community of San Francisco (La Valley). The church remains the location for ongoing cultural use and is a site of regular community gatherings. Additionally, the church is a good example of vernacular church constructed for the San Luis Catholic mission churches after World War II. As such, it features concrete block rather than adobe bricks with architectural references to Late Gothic Revival and Mission Revival forms rather than the Early Gothic Revival elements of other mission churches in the region. (2002 photograph.)
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Plaza de San Luis de la Culebra Historic District Established in 1851, San Luis is the oldest continuously inhabited town in Colorado. The district contains an important collection of buildings that includes the county courthouse, the convent and Church of Most Precious Blood, numerous residences, and the town’s commercial core. The district also includes the Vega, a common ground for animal grazing, and the San Luis People’s Ditch. Listed under Culebra River Villages of Costilla County Multiple Property Submission. (Convent of the Most Precious Blood in 1996 pictured.)
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Rito Seco Creek Culvert Consisting of two 18-foot spans, the steel multiplate arch culvert is faced with local volcanic fieldstone. Constructed in 1936, the culvert remains intact as a good example of one of the smaller bridges built by the Works Progress Administration during the years of the Great Depression. Listed under Highway Bridges in Colorado Multiple Property Submission.
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Salazar House Constructed in 1906, the house is an example of an ornamental concrete block residence. Its Queen Anne detailing is an unusual expression for concrete block construction and for Costilla County. Listed under Ornamental Concrete Block Building in Colorado, 1900 to 1940 Multiple Property Submission. More information (PDF, 6.28 MB).
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San Luis Bridge Completed over Culebra Creek on the western edge of San Luis in 1911, this segmental, reinforced concrete open spandrel arch is one of the earliest unaltered bridges of this type in Colorado. Listed under Highway Bridges in Colorado Multiple Property Submission.
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Sociedad de Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno (San Francisco Morada) This circa 1908 building represents an important aspect of Hispano history in southern Colorado. The building reflects the limited religious and governmental support in poor rural areas of predominately Hispanic populations and the aid societies that formed as a result. Los Hermanos Penitentes (a lay religious, fraternal organization) constructed and used the building as a chapel and meeting hall. The organization also served as a cultural force, preserving language, lore, customs, and faith within the isolated communities. The elongated adobe building was constructed following the traditional linear plan of northern New Mexico.
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Iglesia de San Pedro y San Pablo Iglesia de San Pedro y San Pablo is significant for Hispanic Heritage as the communal gathering place for the communities of San Pedro and San Pablo. The 1933 church remains the location for ongoing cultural use and is a site of regular community gatherings. It meets the requirements under the Culebra River Villages of Costilla County Multiple Property Documentation Form. (2011 photograph.)
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Garcia School
Capilla de San Isidro
