A.) At least four unauthenticated versions exist of how Trinidad was named.

-It was named for the patron Saint of Felipe Baca’s daughter.
-It was named for Baca’s daughter, not the saint.
-A group of early settlers met to select a name and patron saint for the city. Being practical, they dedicated the town to the Holy Trinity.
-A pioneer named Gabriel (Gutierrez threatened to shoot anyone who did not approve the name of Trinidad. He was so belligerent that the name was quickly adopted. Rumor was that Trinidad was the name of a lady in Mexico whom Gutierrez loved, but never saw again, as he lived the rest of his life with his lawful wife, Santissima.

Q.) How was the Purgatorie River named?

A.) The original name of the Purgatory River was El Rio de Las Animas Perdidas en Pugatorio. The translation is the river of lost (wandering) souls in Purgatory. Many legends surround the name. Most often quoted is the tale that a group of Spaniards were attacked by Indians on the riverbank and died there without benefit of last rites; hence, lost souls.

Q.) What are the ruins of the mission-style Church on the right before going over Raton Pass?

A.) It is St. Aloysious Church of the Morley Mining Camp. The Church was dedicated on May 2, 1917. C.F. & I., then owned by John D. Rockefeller, closed the mining camp when the coal ran out in 1956. All that is left of the camp is the shell of the church.

Q.) What is the story behind Trinidad’s unique brick streets?

A.) The first brick used as paving for city streets was probably laid in 1906 or 1907, when one block of Commercial Street was paved as an experiment to test the durability of the vitrified brick~ The entire street was paved with brick sometime in 1909. There are approximately 7.6 miles of brick streets, most of them in the area around the Baca House-Bloom Mansion-Pioneer Museum complex In the mid 1960’s, as the bricks began to disappear, the Trinidad Historical Society initiated a "Save the Bricks" campaign. The earliest brick was imprinted with word "Trinidad’ and with crow’s foot designs in the corners. The Second vintage was simply imprinted with the word "Trinidad".