Morning in Taos

As you may remember... our way to Taos was long and indirect (click here to refresh your memory - Adobe churches in Colorado and New Mexico...). But it wasn't really a hard drive, and after a restful night in our historic Airbnb (I promise to show it later) we woke up ready to explore... Since we were staying just a block off the main plaza, we decided on a short walk to look around...

 

We had some plans for this Sunday, and we were excited to start the day with a stroll through the adobe buildings that surround the town center.

First, we wanted to see some historical Taos churches and next... Hm... let's talk about after lunch time later... after lunch. For now, let's stop at the First Presbyterian Church of Taos, which is just a couple of blocks from the place we spent our night.

Situated in the historic town of Taos, New Mexico, at the intersection of Native American, Spanish and Anglo cultures, First Presbyterian was designed by preeminent New Mexican architect, John Gaw Meem.   The 1952 church sanctuary, as well as the 1964 education building, are constructed in Pueblo Revival style. The building is considered one of Meem’s most significant ecclesiastical buildings and is built of locally sourced materials with decorative motifs completed by local craftspeople.

Just across the street we found a long adobe building full of small shops. They were still closed, so we just walked around and found a small but impressive garden full of street art...

Our next stop was at Nuestra Senora De Los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows) church - built in 1873 and reconstructed in 1917.

In 1796, the Spanish Fernando de Taos land grant included two plazas: one of them in Taos, the other in Cañon. The plaza of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores lies one-and-a-half miles southeast of Taos Plaza at the mouth of the canyon for which the village is named.

In spring 1847 Lewis Garrard accompanied a party of mountain men riding out of Taos Canyon into the Taos Valley. He described what he saw: “The valley, in every direction, was cultivated, and in the total absence of fences, presented the unusual sight of one large field, stretching away for miles, intersected by numberless ditches.”

 

Today many old families still hold large parcels of land in this area. Landowners Pablita and Elizardo Madrid donated a parcel for building their community’s church, completed in 1873 and remodeled in the 1950s.

On our way to the next destination we stopped by El Monte Sagrado, situated in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, that offers a serene setting surrounded by waterfalls, ponds, and towering cottonwood trees. The perfectly manicured grounds make this mountain retreat an oasis only a few blocks away from the town of Taos’s historic plaza.

We passed by St James Episcopal Church which also has some story to tell (even though it doesn't look very impressive)... In 1916 an Episcopal mission was founded under the direction of The Rev. Frederick Bingham Howden. A vicar from Santa Fe or Raton served the little congregation until finally, in 1932, with no permanent place of worship and the presence of a priest dependent upon weather and road conditions, the mission was closed. In December 1943 the Rt. Rev. James Moss Stoney, Bishop of the Rio Grande, and the Rev. James Kinsolving of Santa Fe asked Helen Kentnor if she would help build a congregation in Taos. Helen and her husband Frank had come to Taos in 1930 and had built the Sagebrush Inn. By 1943 World War II was in progress and Frank was in Wichita, Kansas helping with the war effort. Helen found herself running the Sagebrush Inn and helping to start a church community.
The first services of the newly formed mission community were held in the lobby of the Sagebrush Inn. After a few services, the lobby, with its colorful paintings by Taos artists and Navajo rugs adorning the walls, was deemed “too fancy.” The mission moved first to the old Thorne House and then later to the old Masonic building, an ancient adobe structure located on what Taoseños affectionately called “skid row.” The local mortuary supplied the chairs. The mission was called Holy Apostles, but a local humorist dubbed the group the “Holy Impossibles.” In 1945 the mission became St. James Mission.
The dream of owning the church property became a reality when, in 1959, the Weimer family donated four acres of land for a building site. The Weimer family’s ancestors had been merchants in Taos in the 1880s. On Easter Day, 1960, the first service was held in the new Spanish Pueblo mission-style church on Camino de Santiago. In 1974 St. James Mission became St. James Episcopal Church.

The next stop we made was at one of the most famous churches in the area - San Francisco de Asís. The mission at Ranchos de Taos was established in the early 18th century. Initial construction began circa 1772 and completed in 1815 by The Franciscan Fathers whose patron was Saint Francis of Assisi. It was the center of the fortified plaza, which provided for protection against Comanche attacks.

The church has undergone several restorations or subsequent works in 1850, 1916 and 1933. Including a thorough restoration in 1967. In 1967 a new roof was placed over the structure and all the ceiling beams (vigas) and most of the corbels were replaced with copies of the original. The doors were also replaced with copies of the original design. The original sanctuary woodwork was left intact. The community and parishioners gather annually to earthen plaster the church.

San Francisco de Asís is one of the finest examples of Franciscan architecture. Its massive walls, broad planes and gently rounded apse buttresses have inspired works by painters and photographers like Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams since the 1880s. The plaza at Ranchos de Taos (“ranchos” referring to military outposts dating back to the 1680s) was completed in 1779, making it the oldest settlement in the Taos Valley.

 

Small 150 years old Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Carmen is not that famous but nevertheless is beautiful. We shortly stopped here before heading to the next one in the area...

We had one more stop before heading back to downtown for lunch - Nuestra Señora de San Juan de los Lagos. Established in 1823, El Barrio (the neighborhood) de Nuestra  Señora de San Juan de los Lagos de Rio Chiquito was once a district of Ranchos de Taos. By 1827 the new village’s citizenry numbered 30 families. That year Bernardo Duran petitioned Padre Martínez, the parish priest, for the right to build a chapel in honor of Our Lady of San Juan. Duran, one of the village’s prosperous residents, provided the funds to build a small church, completed in 1828.

In the early 19th century annual cordons (trading expeditions) departed from the Taos Valley and other parts of the Nuevo Mexico colony to exchange hides, wool, and woven goods in Mexico. At the great trade fairs in Jalisco, the New Mexicans visited two famous pilgrimage shrines: Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos and Our Lady of Talpa. Sometime afterwards the community became known as Talpa.

By this time we had been wandering around for a few hours and were ready to go back and rest a bit before visiting some more historical sites after lunch.

But we couldn't just go back to where we were staying. Downtown Taos is a great place to walk around among the old adobe buildings. So we just wandered around for another half hour before finally taking a lunch break :)

The pictures were taken on December 08, 2024.