Colorado's oldest church still holds Mass in Conejos

A few miles north of Antonito, in the small unincorporated community of Conejos, twin white towers rise over the valley floor. They belong to Our Lady of Guadalupe, counted as the oldest parish in Colorado, with roots reaching back to Hispano families who settled this corner of the San Luis Valley in the 1850s.

The building itself tells a long story in adobe. An earlier church here partly burned in 1926, and the parish rebuilt, keeping older work where it could. The towers and front you see today went up in 1948, attached to a nave that grew over the years. History Colorado, which helped list the church on the National Register, lays out that layered timeline.

What stays steady is the worship. This is an active Catholic church, not a museum, so if you visit, time it kindly around services and treat the grounds as the working heart of the community they remain. Each year in mid-December, parishioners mark the Fiesta de Guadalupe with a procession, mariachi music, shared meals, and roses filling the sanctuary. The parish has also worked on an adobe prayer labyrinth shaped around the prayers of the Rosary, designed by Ronald Rael, who grew up in the valley.

To confirm Mass times and event dates before you go, start with History Colorado’s page on the church.