Rourke Ranch Historic District
Las Animas County
Rourke Ranch played a significant role in the settlement and agricultural development of the Purgatoire River area and continues to reflect the interaction of its Hispanic and Anglo-American settlers. Beginning in the early 1880s, brothers Eugene and James Rourke began acquiring the lands of departing Hispanic farmers and sheep growers, eventually amassing one of the largest cattle ranches in the area.
Rourke Ranch Historic District (2000 photograph.)
The district includes the site of Eugene Rourke’s original 1875 ranchstead, which was abandoned in favor of a new ranch headquarters after a flood in 1904. The collection of intact buildings and structures at the new ranchstead date from the first decades of the 20th century and reflect a range of construction techniques and traditions, including the use of adobe, horizontal and vertical logs, and stone as building materials.