Old Ranch Building - Farish Recreation Area, El Paso County, CO United States - Unoccupied Buildings, Shacks, and Cabins on Waymarking.com

This old fallen down building was discovered while doing a 10 Kilometer Volksmarch also known as Volkssport here in the U.S., on the Farish Outdoor Recreation Area. I was hiking down an old rutted trail and came upon this broken down building.

I had to stop and investigate. I feel that the age can be estimated by the history of Farish that follows and by the construction materials. The corrugated metal roofing is quite rusted and the true 4 by 4 beams suggest the building is at least pre 1950. The concrete of the remaining foundation walls were pored directly on dirt and that type of construction technique stopped being prevalent around 1930. My guess is the age of construction would be would be between 1920 and 1930, making it 80 to 90 years old. Of course this is just a guess.

As you read the history of the Farish Outdoor Recreation Area you can form your own opinions.

The Farish Recreation Area, a detached unit of the United States Air Force Academy contains an impressive landscape of mountain meadows, lakes, granite outcroppings, aspen groves and striking views of the surrounding mountains.

It is located 5 miles north of Woodland Park, in El Paso County, Colorado. It is located in the Rampart Range of the Rocky Mountains. Farish is accessed from the Academy by car via U.S. Highway 24 and Rampart Range Road., or by foot or horseback via Pike national Forest trail #721 through Stanley Canyon.

Farish has been owned and operated as an off-base military recreation area since 1959 when a 60 acre parcel containing two lodges was purchased and donated to the Academy. The land was given in memory of First Lieutenant William S. Farish Jr. who lost his life in the of the Army Air Corps in World Was II. Subsequent gifts and land purchases occurred in 1963,1967 and 1969. The two lodges and the caretaker's residence were designed by a local Rustic architect in the 1920's and 1930's. The first of the 3 lakes on the property was created in 1930 being Grace Lake. The second, being Leo Lake was formed in the 1950's and finally Sapphire Lake was built in 1965.

Ranching, potato farming, and a small amount of mining have occurred in the southern part of the site, and there are remnants of agricultural fields, an icehouse, and a stock corral.

At Farish, ranching and agriculture early in this century created open areas, and the more diverse vegetation pattern remaining at Farish today represent natural conditions more so than does the vegetation pattern on the surrounding lands.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   03/02/2014 condor1 visited it