During my early college days in Durango (Fort Lewis) I would make several trips over to RGS country on weekends. During these trips, I was able to pick out the remains of the Mancos depot in Mancos. The depot itself had been demolished several years before and the only part left was the freight section, which had been moved and was now a barn/storage shed on a small lot. One thing that I noticed was a large board that was secured to what would have been the west end of the depot. Further investigation found that it was indeed the Mancos depot sign, and that it had been painted over many times. Since it was on private property, I never thought that I could get it, and never thought to ask.
Years later, my wife and I were driving back to Durango from Dolores, and I had to take a look to see if the sign was still there, and it was. My wife encouraged me to go ask the owners in the house about it, but the place was empty, and a “For Sale” sign was posted out front. We went to the local realty office that had listed the property, and asked them about purchasing the sign. Of course to them it was just a weathered old board (all paint was now long gone) and they thought I was a little strange to have wanted it. They checked with the main office (in New York) and they said that as long as it didn’t interfere with the looks of the house, I could have it! They drafted a quick document (at my request) that said it was now mine. I headed for home to get a ladder(and some help) and within a few hours it was in my garage.
The condition of the wood frame around the sign as well as the wood itself was terrible. The grain in the wood had raised where the name MANCOS had been and there was still a little white paint showing in the background. I secured the basic structure of the sign and with a steady hand and some black paint, I was able to re-paint the letters, over the raised grain in the wood. The sign now has a prominent place in my home office. If my wife hadn’t encouraged me to ask, I never would have been able to preserve it.
My wife, I think I’ll keep her!!!
