Rod Barker, owner of the Strater Hotel, talks with Penny Spittler, left, aka “Sadie Six-Shooter,” and Leslie Ashcraft, aka, “Fanny Anny,” who are in Durango for the seventh annual Durango Heritage Celebration. The Barker family recently was named the Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year.

JERRY McBRIDE/Durango Herald

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Rod Barker, owner of the Strater Hotel, talks with Penny Spittler, left, aka “Sadie Six-Shooter,” and Leslie Ashcraft, aka, “Fanny Anny,” who are in Durango for the seventh annual Durango Heritage Celebration. The Barker family recently was named the Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year.

JERRY McBRIDE/Durango Herald

Not only is the Strater Hotel one of the iconic images of Durango, now its owners are legendary, too.

The Rod Barker family was named the Legendary Family Historic Hoteliers of the Year by the Historic Hotels of America. The award ceremony took place at another historic hotel, The Hotel Hershey in Pennsylvania, on Oct. 2.

Historic Hotels is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. About 250 hotels are members, qualifying because the hotels are more than 50 years old. They are designated by the secretary of the Department of the Interior as a National Historic Landmark or listed in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and are recognized as having historical significance.

Current owners Rod and Laurie Barker are the third generation of the clan to run the Strater. They have been the proprietors since 1983. Their daughter, Allison Barker, is learning the ropes to make it four.

Herald Staff