Preserving History: The Legacy Of Hotchkiss Family’s Barn In Colorado

Colorado's beautiful farms and ranches are spread out between the eastern plains, and the western slope, and several families ranching in the Rockies in the northern portion of the Centennial State.

Some of the big old barns are fun to look at while on day trips around the state, and a few of them stand out because they look so different from the rest. Imagine wanting to build a horse barn, but all you have are clay and bricks.

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Historic Hotchkiss, Colorado

Hotchkiss, Colorado is known for the Hotchkiss Sheep Camp Stock Dog Trials, the Delta County Fair, and a prime location to fly fish on the Gunnison River. It's also the home of a Colorado Centennial Farm that belongs to the Hotchkiss family. The Hotchkiss homestead includes a farmhouse and an unusually large barn made of bricks.

The Oldest Structure in the North Fork Valley

Enos T Hotchkiss and his wife led a group of settlers into the North Fork Valley by 1881. He built a small cabin that served as the town post office before building his family home and a large barn near Leroux Creek west of town. The brick structure is 100 feet by 40 feet and includes 4000 square feet of space inside. It's the oldest and largest structure still standing built more than 130 years ago in Delta County.

Help Save the Hotchkiss Barn

In 2010, a storm packing hurricane-force winds destroyed a portion of the historic barn's roof, leaving the historic property at risk of collapse. Hotchkiss Barn was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2011, allowing the family to receive grants to restore the barn to its original working condition. Find more info at SavetheHotchkissBarn.org.

Take a closer look at this historic property in Delta County in the photo gallery below.