And the West is History: Animas City School photo – ca. 1894

In 1876, Animas City established School District No. 1 in La Plata County and constructed the county’s first school that same year. This photo shows the entrance of the third Animas City School, built in 1880, located at the corner of 31st Street and West Second Avenue, with its entrance facing 31st Street. Seated at the center are Mr. Coulter and Miss Sleeth, the teachers. Students signed the back of the photo, with some names still recognizable to Durango residents, such as Folsom, Vandergrift, Galbraith and Peterson. When the fourth Animas City School was completed in 1905, the previous school was sold and converted into a duplex. It was demolished in 1958 to make way for a new annex of the Animas City School, which is now part of the Mountain Middle School complex. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 77.77.72 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)