History Lesson

 
  One of the fun hats that a professional innsitter  wears  is that of "concierge". To do this well, you need to know at least a little bit of local history. Kirk loves museums and other historical displays and learns a lot about each of our new areas this way [big YAWN for me]. I need to see historical artifacts in front of me so I love old photos and especially old buildings, homes and cemeteries. Old schools and churches are a great way for me to get a history lesson.  I'm always making Kirk stop so I can poke around and learn something.

  Our current assignment is in Buena Vista Co and the chamber of commerce is housed in a lovely old church. Of course we had to stop in and get some tips so that we could tell our guests the top 10 things to do in BV. This church was built in 1880 - the St Rose of Lima Catholic Church- the second church to be built in Buena Vista. It served as a church until 1964 and became the visitors center in the 1970s. It always makes me happy to see these living reminders of history still in use [unlike the unknown church or school in Leadville pictured above].

Because the weather in Colorado is so dry, many of these old buildings remain in good shape for over 100 years. This is the Nathrop school built in 1881 and used as a school until 1946. Today the town of Nathrop [just south of BV] is just a few houses centered around this lovely old building. But it is easy for me to picture children going to school here 100 years ago from all the surrounding ranches.

This beautifully restored history lesson is the Maysville School from 1882 - wow! I just had to stop to take this photo and look around: much better than any museum, right??