Morley Church

Wilmer Perez Photojournalism

by Wilmer Perez,
Trinidad Area Professional Photographer
May 30, 2000

  Located at the site of the old coal mining camp of Morley. You have seen this monument standing around Exit 3 of Interstate 25 as you travel between Trinidad and Raton.

Traveling south on I-25 on the way from Trinidad to Raton, there are the ruins of an old mine camp called Morley. Prominent between those ruins is the remnant of a Catholic Church, the Morley Church.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, Morley was a model coal mining town. John D. Rockefeller's Colorado Fuel and Iron Company owned the mine. The business was thriving and the miners started collecting money, and with some help of the Company, decided to build a church. 

The church was finished in 1917. The following year and coincident with the end of War World I, the church was consecrated as St Aloysius Catholic Church.

 

By the end of another World War, this time the second, the economic activity in Morley was decreasing and by the mid 50's the mine, homes and the Church were abandoned. Today, several walls and the roof already caved in but the facade is pretty much intact and has become a favorite subject for photographers and painters.

 

 

We are pleased to continue our series of photo journalism stories about the beautiful area that we live in with the help of professional photographer Wilmer Perez. Wilmer has several thousand pictures (of which we can only bring a limited number to you) of our area.

Wilmer's photos and services are available to our visitors. We encourage you to contact Wilmer (or us) with comments or picture purchase and service requests at wperez@rmi.net or by phone at (719)846-2021.