Soldiers & Sailors Home
Year Listed: 2005
County: Rio Grande County
Status: PROGRESS
Context: Military
Date Constructed: 1889
Significance:
Established in the San Luis Valley in 1889, the Colorado State Veterans Center at Homelake, also referred to as the Soldiers and Sailors Home, provided a peaceful place for aging and displaced Civil War veterans. This continuously operated complex is the oldest veterans’ center in the state and contains more than eighty structures. A cemetery with headstones in concentric circles surrounds a 1912 monument dedicated to veterans of the Civil and Spanish-American Wars; veterans of every major conflict from the Civil War to the current war in Iraq are buried there. Fifty-two structures on site are considered contributing to the State Register Historic District; five buildings are listed individually. In 2002, the Colorado General Assembly passed a statute to establish the center as a repository for all unclaimed military memorabilia. This, in addition to a considerable archive of military artifacts already collected, has supporters envisioning a significant public display.
Threat When Listed:
Neglect.
CBS4's Report: Soldiers & Sailors Home
Since Listing:
The Homelake Foundation was established to spearhead the project of preserving the Soldiers' and Sailors' Home. This foundation, Colorado Preservation, Inc., the Department of Human Services, and a growing network of supporters, including national and state representatives, have joined forces to emphasize the importance of the site and its need for funding. Improvements to buildings currently in use have been upgraded to high priority by both federal and state governments. The State Historical Fund awarded the site a grant in May 2006 for a master plan of the campus. An application is being made for National Register designation. A volunteer began cataloging records, journals, books and memorabilia, some of which date back to the 1800s, when the institution was founded. Items already catalogued are on display and open to the public on Tuesdays.
Last updated:
July 2006