Colorado Ghost Town Books/Maps
Moffat Church
I call this the Moffat Church because you can see that the name of the church was removed. At one time it read First ???? Church. What the ???? stood for I do not know. (See readers comments below for answers.)
Some people speculate it was the First Baptist Church. This is about all that is left of the older structures in the town named after the famous President of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, David H. Moffat.
A viewer writes -
June 2008 --
Just came across your page on the old Moffat Church. Thank
you for bringing back some great memories. I had many great photos of that old
church and the people who worshipped in it in 1989-91 but they were all lost in
a freak flood two years ago. The reason it is so special to me is that I used to
preach and play/lead music there in 98-91(along with Richard Adams from Crestone
Baptist Church). I am sorry that I can't remember the name of the great old guy
that owned the church--he owned a large ranch northeast of Moffat and actually
owned much of the town property. He and his wife (in their 80's) were really
sweet and had me over to dinner a couple of times and he would show me amazing
photo albums filled with pics of the area going back to the early 1900's when
his dad ran the general store and, I think, one of the banks in Moffat. He also
had cool pictures of people watching UFO's along highway 17 in the late 50's
early 60's!
OK, enough of my rambling, I just thought I would confirm that the old Moffat
Church was originally the First Baptist Church. No one I knew could tell me when
or why the "Baptist" was carved off. The church was still heated by an ancient
oil burning heater that was smack in the middle of the church (I used to arrive
early to light it on cold winter days.) At some point there was electricity
although the wiring was very old and the electrical hadn't been on in years--no
matter it was well lit by sunlight on Sundays. No P.A. so we had to
preach "projecting" our voice, especially being that the congragation was older
and a bit hard of hearing. It has a 5 hole outhouse (really!). I love that area
and miss it even living in Santa Barbara, CA.
I really love your site, there
were other things that really made me smile. Keep up the good work. I would love
to see anything else you have for that area. I lived in Crestone, I volunteered
for a year and a half as a counselor at the Teen Challenge Center (a drug rehab
run by the Assemblies of God Church) which was in "The Good Samaritan Inn", now
the White Eagle Lodge. I also set them up on computers as I had many years of
computer experience. It was great to spend that time helping people--weird being
that I was raised a Jewish Baptist (long story!) and was in the midst of
hardcore Pentecostals--but it was great. The people in Crestone and Moffat,
Villa Grove and Saguache, Hooper too, all took this city boy in and taught me
how survive among cowboys and New Agers. Because of that time there I got to
meet the Dalai Lhama, assorted gurus and shamans, real cowboys--even preg tested
cows. Richard Adams and I used to circuit preach from Crestone to Moffat to
Villa Grove to Saguache and then back to Crestone! I later ended up running (and
building) and aquaculture farm outside of Hooper and DJ'ing on KRZA in Alamosa
(had the morning "Jazz Plus" show) I can't tell you how much I miss the people
and the whole area. You know the magic that exists in the San Luis Valley.Okay,
I am rambling which I tend to do nowadays.
Again, Thanks for the memories and great pics! Love your site. - Steve McDonald
Rocky Mountain Profiles Colorado Ghost Towns and Colorado Photos – Niwot Colorado