And the West is Hsitory: Denver & Rio Grande Train Depot Ignacio – ca. 1940

The Denver & Rio Grande Ignacio station was an important transportation hub for residents of Ignacio and the Southern Ute Reservation from the earliest days of the railroad’s incursion into Southwest Colorado. Daily passenger service to Alamosa and Durango made travel much easier, as roads were woefully inadequate for long-distance travel from the small community. The station was painted red, white and blue and renamed “Fort Kearney” for the Academy Award-winning 1956 movie “Around the World in 80 Days.” The D&RGW never repainted it back to its corporate colors, and the building retained its unusual color scheme until the structure was acquired and moved to Ignacio next to St. Ignatius Catholic Church. It became a parish hall and residence for the parish priest. After the construction of a new church, the building was sold and moved again, and is now a private residence. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum (Catalog Number: 17.09.2 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)