Built in 1909 of locally-quarried sandstone, Mancos High School is the oldest high school in continuous use in the state of Colorado. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A tradition continues
Established in 1904, Mancos High School graduated its first class of seniors in 1908. There were only six, but Mancos was prosperous and growing, and the town's citizens voted to build a larger school. The first classes in the new building were held in 1909. Since then, every generation of Mancos high school students have studied their lessons in the same building. It is a living historical monument, doing the same job today that it did in 1909.

In November of 1913, fire destroyed the third floor and roof of the high school and damaged the second floor. Classes continued in the damaged building, at a nearby church, and in the gymnasium. That year the Mancos High basketball team repeated as southwestern Colorado champs. It was not long before the high school needed more room, and in 1920 the building was expanded to the rear, doubling its size.

By the early 1980s, the high school building had become obsolete, and Mancos students needed a more modern facility. Unwilling to part with the old high school and the memories it held, the citizens of Mancos voted to renovate the building rather than replace it with a new structure.

In the late 1990s, the exterior of the high school was showing it age. Mortar was loose and missing, wooden eaves were rotting, and the roof was leaking. The Colorado Historical Society came to the rescue, awarding two grants that corrected these structural problems and also improved the appearance of the building by covering several concrete block additions with stone masonry.

Back in 1909, the people of the Mancos Valley were proud of their handsome stone high school, and we still are today. It is the jewel at the center of our campus, and it is the heart of our community.

In this photo the high school is shown with new, historically-accurate mortar and eaves which were replaced during renovation projects funded largely by grants from the Colorado Historical Society in 1998 and 2000.