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“History lives in the places we protect, and in this grant round, we see powerful stories rising – from Winks Lodge, where generations built joy and resistance, to the sweeping landscape of Zapata Ranch, and the enduring strength of the Eighth Street Baptist Church in Pueblo,” said Marcie Moore Gantz, director of the State Historical Fund. “These places connect us to who we’ve been, but they also offer space for who we’re becoming. Through thoughtful preservation and creative reuse, communities are transforming these historic sites into spaces for learning, gathering, entrepreneurship, and cultural expression.”

This grant round includes both General Grants (ranging from $50,001 - $250,000) and Mini Grants (up to $50,000) and concludes Fiscal Year 2025, during which the State Historical Fund awarded 107 grants for a total investment of $12,280,247 towards preservation efforts across the state.

Since its founding in 1991, the State Historical Fund has awarded more than 5,500 grants, totaling $392,342,965 in funding for historic preservation across Colorado. In addition to helping protect the stories and places Coloradans cherish, these preservation efforts directly affect the economic health of the Centennial State. Since 1981, preservation efforts in Colorado have created more than 27,000 jobs and generated nearly $3.9 billion in direct and indirect economic impacts, adding $2.2 billion to Colorado’s GDP.

The State Historical Fund is currently accepting letters of intent for its upcoming fall grant round, which opens for applications on August 1, 2025.

Below are a selection of highlighted projects. A complete list of all 41 grants awarded by the State Historical Fund in this round of applications is available here.

Grant Highlights:

Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation | Gilpin County
The Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation– a non-profit based in Denver that focuses on building community and promoting equitable access to the outdoors – was awarded $220,284 for completion of construction documents for the full rehabilitation of the recently designated National Historic Landmark: Wink’s Lodge. 

Constructed in the mid-1920s by Obrey “Wink” Wendell Hamlet, Wink’s Lodge and the surrounding Lincoln Hills resort carry a deep importance to Black Coloradans. Opened in 1922, Lincoln Hills was the largest African American outdoor resort west of the Mississippi and provided a place where community members could escape the segregation and white supremacy of the early 20th century.

During the height of its use, Wink’s Lodge served as a focal point for the resort and provided a central gathering place for visitors who were recreating there. Following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the death of Wendell Hamlet in 1965, visitation and use of the lodge declined.

Since the 1960s the building has changed hands several times but has been largely unchanged, resulting in a high level of historic integrity, but also the need for ongoing preservation efforts to maintain this historic landmark and expand its uses for future generations.

The Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation is optimistic that the documents created from this funding will lay the foundation for addressing urgent structural repairs of Wink’s Lodge, allowing for its expanded use in the coming years and fostering a deeper understanding of Black history. 

“A rare, significant, and enduring resource, Wink’s Lodge stands as a representation of self-determination, resilience, and courage in the Black community,” said Alton Dillard, board president of the Lincoln Hills Cares Foundation. “This project will further bring Wink’s Lodge, the history of the Black community, and their preservation efforts to the fore.”

Amache Alliance | Prowers County
The Amache Alliance has been awarded $150,594 to update the existing driving tour at the recently designated Amache National Historic Site. This effort includes improving existing interpretive content and signage to bring it in line with National Park Service interpretation of the history of Japanese incarceration during World War II. Improvements will also include a realignment of the driving route to preserve cultural resources and the inclusion of oral histories from survivors of Amache and their descendants. 

In operation from 1942-1945, Amache housed more than 7,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were incarcerated as a result of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issuing Executive Order 9066. The site was first designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2006 and in 2022 was added as a unit under the stewardship of the National Park Service (NPS) when it was recognized as a National Historic Site.

A strong motivator for this project is the increased traffic to the site as a result of its designation in 2022 and the need to steer visitors away from sensitive archaeological sites, mitigate congestion, and address visitor safety concerns. This project also incorporates reconstructed buildings into the tour, replacing weather damaged signage, and includes three additional audio recordings to supplement the driving tour.

Combined, these efforts will improve site accessibility, protect areas of significant archaeological value, and educational outcomes for visitors – both in person and virtually as the interpretation will be available online – while balancing the capacity of the staff to manage the site so it can continue to be an important reminder of a dark chapter in American history.

“Amache provides a space to honor the resilience and contributions of those who were confined there, while also offering survivors and descendants a tangible connection to their family history,” said Mitch Homma, president of Amache Alliance. “ It is a place that preserves the stories and experiences of the individuals who spent time in this place, commemorating their ability to survive the unjust situation thrust upon them, as they overcame adversity with dignity and pride.”

Eighth Street Baptist Church | Pueblo County
One of Colorado oldest Black congregations, Eighth Street Baptist Church in Pueblo, was awarded $250,000 for the creation of construction documents that will help address critical construction deficiencies, as well as immediate stabilization work needed to protect the building. This work will allow the church, which has important connections to both the Civil Rights and Women’s Suffrage movements, to continue to play a vital role in the Pueblo community. 

Founded in 1891, Eighth Street Baptist Church has been a mainstay of the Pueblo community for more than 130 years and was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in May of 2024. Originally a timber-framed building, the church was moved, expanded, and overhauled in 1908 into its current asymmetric brick-clad Gothic Revival form which withstood the 1921 Pueblo Flood and stands to this day.

Over the decades the Eighth Street Baptist Church has committed to meeting critical community needs including taking on an important role as both a gathering place for the faithful and a provider of essential services during the Great Depression. Today the church offers necessities such as afterschool programming for families, senior care, and transitional support for formerly incarcerated individuals with hopes to expand its offerings in the near future.

“This project is the first step towards rehabilitation that will provide the church with the necessary upgrades and improvements to better serve our community,” said Pastor Steve Mack. “With updated mechanical systems and more efficient cooling and heating, the space will become more functional and sustainable. The addition of classrooms, office space, a warming kitchen, and a dining area will greatly enhance our ability to offer essential programs and services.”

Grand County Historical Association | Grand County
The Grand County Historical Association was awarded $250,000 to install a foundation and complete interior restoration of the Kremmling Depot in Hot Sulphur Springs. This project builds on a previous SHF grant that funded construction documents guiding the depot’s restoration and revitalization as a community gathering place and exhibition space for the people of Kremmling.

Built in the early 20th century, the Kremmling Depot is the last surviving station along the historic Moffat Road and plays a key role in understanding the economic and social development of Grand County. Originally owned by the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway, the Moffat Road connected Grand County to Denver, improving access to the region, boosting ranching and tourism, and spurring the growth of supporting industries and businesses tied to the railway.

Usage of the depot was discontinued in the 1970s, after which it sat vacant for decades until it was slated for deconstruction in 2008. With the support of the community, the Grand County Historical Association rallied community support to save the building and it was moved five blocks away to the Heritage Park Museum. In 2019 it was added to the State Register of Historic Properties.

Despite the Kremmling Depot being saved from demolition, it remained largely vacant due to it being placed on a temporary foundation of railroad ties, which made it unsafe for use, which this project seeks to remedy through the creation of a permanent foundation that will allow for expanded use of the historic depot.

“This project is more than a restoration effort: it is an opportunity to preserve a disappearing piece of Colorado’s railroad history while transforming the Depot into a vibrant community asset,” said Shanna Ganne, executive director of Grand County Historical Association. “With the support of History Colorado, we can complete this long-overdue preservation work and ensure the Depot serves future generations as both a historic landmark and a thriving hub for education, tourism, and community.”

Nature Conservancy | Alamosa County
The Nature Conservancy (TNC-Colorado) was awarded $249,550 to conduct cultural resource surveys of the Zapata Ranch Preserve located adjacent to the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. These surveys will identify, map, and interpret cultural resources in the preserve in consultation with Tribes historically associated with the region so that they can be better preserved and managed in the future.

Acquired by TNC-Colorado in 1999, the Zapata Ranch Preserve’s previous owner established a buffalo herd that grazed on 40,000 acres of privately owned land and surrounding public lands. This herd has been maintained by TNC-Colorado, which has focused its efforts on restoring the area to its original habitat and transferred nearly 13,000 acres to state and federal agencies to aid in the effective management of the landscape.

Home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, the Zapata Ranch Preserve has produced physical evidence that multiple tribes – including the Utes, ancestral Puebloans, and nomadic Folsom peoples – all occupied or traversed it prior to European and Anglo-American colonization. The Nature Conservancy is hopeful that the process of surveying the area will establish new relationships and reinforce existing ones with Tribes that have historical ties to Zapata Ranch, and present cultural and environmental learning opportunities for generations to come.

“It is important for us that we understand these preserves are first and foremost ancestral homelands of Indigenous people, and that Tribal engagement is not separate from our conservation work. To support this, we are deepening relationships and engaging with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities to build trust and find a way forward together to scope uses of the Zapata Ranch Preserve as a place for cultural reconnection,” said Izabella Ruffino, tribal & indigenous engagement program manager for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado. “In addition to on-site Tribal listening sessions, a partnership with the InterTribal Buffalo Council, and planning engagement events, cultural resource surveys are one of many steps that TNC-Colorado is taking to be in right relations with Tribal Nations regarding future management of Zapata Ranch Preserve.”

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 146-year-old institution that operates eleven museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation which provides technical assistance, educational opportunities, and other access to archaeology and historic preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is one of the nation’s largest state funded preservation programs of its kind. More than 70% of SHF grants are allocated in rural areas of the state. Additionally, the offices of the State Archaeologist and the State Historic Preservation Officer are part of History Colorado. 

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and 10 other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information. #HistoryColorado