Trinidad, Colorado - A Historic Building Survey
Christian Church Building
Map location #37.
A parson by profession and a stonemason by trade, the Reverend Stevens also caught the spirit of Victorian exuberance when he designed the stone church built to replace the original adobe. According to the 1961 Church Yearbook, Rev. Stevens helped hew the stones and did most of the building. (Older members recall that the interior did not include a baptismal; baptismal services were held in the Purgatoire near where the Linden Bridge now stands.) This striking church was built on land donated by Dr. Tom E. Owen who was another of Trinidad's outstanding early residents.
The church that "bid fair", as it was said, flourished in Rev. Steven's stone edifice until 1922 when the congregation moved to a new church. The building was then used for a time by the Spanish-speaking Presbyterians and was called the Second Presbyterian Church. The building is now used only as a warehouse.
The original owner of the lot was S. T. Brown who sold to Dr. Owen in 1881. The lot passed through the hands of several others until 1915 when Mary E. Owen deeded the land to the Christian Church (the denomination which had built the church).
Legal Description: Northwest corner of Lot 3; Block 97 OTS.
Figure 76 Christian Church Building
