La Plata County commissioners on Tuesday highlighted two historical amenities, supporting an effort to designate roads along the defunct Durango to Chama, N.M., rail line as a scenic byway, and to add a one-room schoolhouse south of Ignacio to the county’s Historic Register.

Commissioners unanimously supported both recognitions, which aim to draw more tourism to the rural southeast corner of the county.

The Denver and Rio Grande Railway ran a narrow-gauge line from Durango to Chama from the late 1800s to December 1968. The track was removed the next year.

The route stretches along Colorado Highways 151 and 172 from Durango through Oxford, Ignacio, Tiffany and Allison before heading into Archuleta County and south to New Mexico.

Jill Seyfarth of Durango’s Cultural Resource Planning was hired by the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad and Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to lead the effort.

“The railroads see this as a way to increase the traffic between the two towns,” she said.

The county approved a letter of support, after similar gestures by Rio Arriba and Archuleta counties, along with the cities of Durango and Chama and the Southern Ute and Jicarilla Apache tribes.

The scenic byway designation still must be approved by the Colorado Scenic and Historic Byways Commission, the body that awards scenic byway designations.

“We have to prove the route has these outstanding scenic and historical amenities,” Seyfarth said.

The Durango-Chama route would be the 26th scenic byway in the state – the San Juan Skyway loop that begins with a Durango-to-Silverton segment is another. Seyfarth said the state commission is supportive of the proposed honor.

The designation could lure locals to explore a little-traveled part of the county, Commissioner Julie Westendorff said.

“That’s one of the cool things about this route is it takes people who have lived here a long time places they’ve never been before,” she said.

A scenic byway designation would likely lead to more interpretive stops and road signs along the route, Seyfarth said.

Commissioners also voted to add the Lower Spring Creek School House to the county Historic Register. The one-room schoolhouse, dating to around 1911, is on the property of Fox Fire Farms, 5733 County Road 321, south of Ignacio.

“It is a good example of a one-room schoolhouse from the turn of the century,” said County Planner Daniel Murray.

The farm’s owner, Richard Parry, said his mother, Alberta (Jones) Parry, attended the school from 1916 to 1922, as did his aunt, Evelyn (Jones) Payne. Payne, went on to teach at the school in the 1930s; she died in April 2012.

Parry is the third generation of his family to run the farm, which has a winery and vineyard and hosts weddings and other events.

The isolated schoolhouse is not visible from any road. Parry said visitors are welcome to tour the schoolhouse as long as a Fox Fire employee is available.

“We do want the public to see this schoolhouse,” he said.

cslothower@durangoherald.com