DENVER — History Colorado has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to collaborate with residents of the San Luis Valley to develop sustainable, community-led preservation plans that preserve sites of meaning, provide economic and social benefits and increase representation of the Valley on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The basis of this project is to create deep, meaningful engagement with local leaders and community organizations in the San Luis Valley to identify 10 sites that are eligible for listing on the State and National Registers.
Sites will be considered for research and nomination based upon the benefit their designation will be to the public, including factors like how accessible the site to the community is, what kind of learning opportunities can the site provide and what are the site’s relationship and contributions to the local economy and social infrastructure.
“The San Luis Valley was historically both a geo-political and cultural borderlands, in which the combination and collision of Indigenous, Hispano, and Anglo peoples formed a hybrid culture that is like no other in the United States,” said Dawn DiPrince, President/CEO of History Colorado and State Historic Preservation Officer.
“Preserving the sites that tell the authentic stories of the Valley and provide collective meaning to its people is critical to recognizing the full breadth of our state’s history before it is lost to time.
“This effort will also provide us an opportunity to invest in the future prosperity of the Valley as historic designations can provide access to funding avenues that can be used to protect sites which define communities,” DiPrince said.
While the specifics of how this project will be implemented are still being developed, Luke Perkins, History Colorado’s Manager of Communications and Public Relations, told the Valley Courier, “We’re planning to hold three major convening events where we will engage with community leaders to identify the sites. We’ll also be offering an honorarium for those people who attend.”
In addition to providing technical support in researching and nominating sites, this grant funds consultation opportunities with grant-writing and sustainability planning experts who will help locals establish sustainability plans for each of the sites added to the State and National Registers. This consultation will assist locals to develop funding applications that support ongoing maintenance, operation, and/or redevelopment and restoration plans for sites so they both preserve the past and serve the contemporary and future needs of San Luis Valley and its residents.
It's the hope of History Colorado that the preservation support and projects put in place by this grant will continue to pay dividends for the community long after the grant funded effort is completed by empowering locals to lead preservation efforts across the San Luis Valley and provide a model for how preservation can meet the needs of under-resourced communities.
“We are lucky that San Luis Valley communities have fiercely and lovingly preserved their rich historic resources for generations, and we are eager to support their stewardship with additional resources and tools,” DiPrince said. “This project has the potential to set a standard for how historic preservation can turn the vital markers of the past into economic drivers of the future.”
The work done in the San Luis Valley will also provide History Colorado an extensive opportunity to evaluate the processes and procedures which govern nomination to the State Register. It is the organization's hope that community input provided through this project will help remove any undue barriers that restrict marginalized communities from accessing historic designation and preservation funding.
“When people think classically about historic properties, they envision stunning Victorian houses, and the creations of renowned architects, but this only represents a portion of our shared history,” DiPrince said. “This work allows us to advance what historic preservation looks like and build an inclusive historic record that represents the experiences of all of Colorado’s people.”
Colorado Heritage for All is an intentional effort by History Colorado to address the lack of representation of all of Colorado's diverse communities on the State and National Register of Historic Places. Colorado Heritage for All supports nominations and the listing of 150 currently unrecognized historic resources that tell the stories of marginalized communities by the end of 2026.
History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information.
