History

History of the East Street School

Trinidad, the county seat of Las Animas County, is located in southern Colorado. To the west of Trinidad is the towering majesty of the Rocky Mountains and to the east is a vast stretch of prairie land that extends to the Colorado border with the State of Kansas. In 1866, Las Animas County was created by act of the Territorial Legislature and during that same year School District #1 was established.

The town of Trinidad was incorporated February 10, 1876 and became a City of the Second Class on December 13, 1879. The town’s growth during its formative years was tied directly to the development of large cattle and sheep ranches in the surrounding area. During these early years, the school district’s deliberations and efforts were of little consequence, but as the area gradually became settled, schools were organized, teachers secured and a plan of operation adopted. On September 15, 1880, the school board issued a bond of $15,000 for the erection of the first permanent public school building in Trinidad. The two-and-a-half-story brick and stone building was completed and opened on August 28, 1882. The school was named after Reverend E.J. Rice and replaced Rice’s adobe house that had been used as a school. Teachers’ salaries at this time varied from $40 to $125 per month.

With the discovery of coal in the surrounding area, Trinidad became the commercial and supply center for the surrounding coal camps and its population grew. As Trinidad’s population grew so did the school age population, creating the need for additional school buildings. Schools were built in a neighborhood the north part of town and then another school was built in the southwestern part of town. In 1908, because of an increase in the school age population in the eastern part of Trinidad, and the distance small children in that area had to walk to school, the School Board purchased for $1,900 a lot at the corner of East First and East streets as a future school site. The site was located at the top of a ridge, some 50 feet above East Main Street.

On June 22, 1909, the school district commissioned the architectural firm of I.H. & W.M. Rapp to place bids for moving the “portable cottage” serving as a school to East Street. In July, John Krout was awarded the contract for moving the “cottage” to the site. Nothing further took place at the East Street site until many years later. During a meeting of the Board of Education on 6 December 1916, the issue of new school construction was again raised. Architect W.M. Rapp was present and offered valuable information along building lines. The Board was in the process of preparing a bond issue, to be presented to the electorate in the amount of $100,000, which included monies to pay for an addition to the Santa Fe School, a new building on the grounds of the Trinidad High School and construction of a new East Street school. The bond issue was presented to the voters on 7 May 1917, and was defeated by five votes. Two years would elapse before another attempt was made to pass a new bond issue.

In the February 18, 1919 edition of the Evening Picketwire edition, the city’s school facilities were a called a disgrace. The intent of the article to make the citizens realize that at least one new school building was necessary to accommodate the growing number of school age children in the eastern section of the town. At the April 14, 1919 meeting of the School Board it was put forth that they were determined to have a new East Street school built. The architects selected were Isaac Hamilton Rapp, William Mason Rapp and Arthur Conrad Hendrickson; together they completed plans for the building with the addition of one school room on each wing to make a ten-room building.

Construction began in June and was completed prior to 2 January 1920 at a cost of $70,000. Classes began on Monday, 5 January 1920 in a thoroughly modern and up to date facility.

The East Street School served for over 80 years providing primary school education and contributed significantly to the education of thousands of Trinidad students. It was the last Trinidad school building to be designed by I.H. & W.M. Rapp. It served the children of the area until it was closed in 2002.