A Hispanic church in Tiffany has been officially listed on La Plata County’s historic register.
County commissioners Tuesday unanimously voted to include the Iglesias de San Antonia Catholic Church on the register, lauding the church for its historic importance to the county’s Hispanic community.
The Iglesias de San Antonia Catholic Church was built in 1928 in Tiffany, an unincorporated community about 35 miles southeast of Durango along what is now Colorado Highway 151.
The church stands as one of the few remaining buildings built by Hispanic communities in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico that moved north in the early 20th century to create towns on the then-new route of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.
The church flourished until the early 1970s, when Masses were transferred to the Catholic church in Ignacio. But in recent years, annual Masses are once again being held at the church.
Daniel Murray, a La Plata County planner, told commissioners the county received a grant from the state of Colorado in 2008 to survey an estimated 100 structures that had significance from a historic standpoint. That same effort sparked the county’s historic register.
The majority of structures were put on the list during the 2008 survey. The church in Tiffany marks the 16th place on the register.
By being included on the historic register, the church has a better chance of receiving funding and grants for maintenance projects, officials say. Repairing the building’s foundation and stabilizing its walls have been listed as priority fixes.
In February, the church was added to the Colorado Most Endangered Places list, a program created by Colorado Preservation Inc.
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