Santa Maria - Grant, CO
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 26.925 W 105° 38.016
13S E 445483 N 4366768
This 55-foot tall statue of Christ the King with the words 'Santa Maria' is found on the property of the YMCA Santa Maria just outside of Bailey, Colorado, USA.
Waymark Code: WMFF4K
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 10/09/2012
Views: 2
This huge Christ the King statue was erected in 1933 as a gift from the Dower family. Below the statue on the hill are the words 'Santa Maria' which refers to the (now) YMCA camp. Since the statue and words are on private property, the above coordinates are of a pull-off area when the statue and words may be easily photographed. You may find a video if the statue at (
visit link) (Note: this is not my video). Information about the camp may be found at (
visit link) .
"Another Catholic summer camp originated with the old resort of Cassells on the South Platte River. The resort had been launched as a stop along the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad by David N. Cassells, the agent there, in the 1880s. In 1930, J.K. Mullen's son-in-law, John L. Dower, and his wife, purchased the place, located 8.3 miles west of Bailey, from Cassells estate and gave it to Catholic Charities as a summer camp for underprivileged boys and girls between the ages of eight and fifteen. By 1931, the freshly rechristened Camp Santa Maria was offering three-week summer sessions, during which youngsters slept in the old Cassells hotel.
The landmark atop the hill behind the camp, a fifty-five-foot statue of Christ the King donated in 1933 by the Dowers, is supposedly second in height only to the famous statue of Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although the old hotel and Cassells-Dower summer house have been demolished, Camp Santa Maria still delights young summer visitors to this mountain retreat along the upper South Platte River. Since the 1950s, the Mary Mullen Dower Benevolent Corporation has leased Camp Santa Maria to Catholic Community Services, which offers not only children's summer camping but also retreats and autumn camping for senior citizens. " by Thomas J. Noel (from (
visit link) )