Trinidad, Colorado - A Historic Building Survey
Sopris Block
Map location #7.
The original owner of the lot on which the Sopris Block was built was John R. Skelley. The earliest record on the lot is in his name on May 8, 1878. The listed owner in 1883 at the time of the construction of the building was Mary L. Skelley. The property passed from her ownership to that of Elbridge B. Sopris on May 22, 1887. Sopris apparently held the property until 1908. The next time his name appears on the records is with Mary L. Sopris, March 6, 1908, when the deed was passed on to Peter Berta.
It might be well to add some pertinent details about John R. Skelley, Mary L. Skelley, and Elbridge B. Sopris at this point. After John R. Skelley died, his wife Mary L. Skelley married Sopris and this accounts for her name appearing as both Skelley and Sopris. Sopris is the General Elbridge B. Sopris who founded a now defunct coal camp in the area that is still called Sopris.
The style of the Sopris Block has been designated as Western Victorian.
Legal Description: Part of Lots 1 and 2. East 13 feet of the South 105' of Lot 1; South 105' of Lot 2; Block 112 OTS.
Figure 16 Sopris Block
