Bauer Bank Building

Built by George Bauer in 1905

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 16, 2025

1. Bauer Bank Building Marker

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From the National Register Nomination prepared by Jill Sevfarth, 5/15/2003:
The 1905 Bauer Bank is the only remaining evidence of the community's successfully orchestrated effort to defy the incipient Rio Grande Southern Railroad by placing substantial

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 16, 2025

2. Bauer Bank Building Marker

The marker is mounted on the left side of the northeast corner entrance.

commercial buildings southeast of the railroad's siding. The Rio Grande Southern Railroad had shown its ability to develop and profit from new towns, as was the case with the creation of the town of Dolores at the expense of Big Bend. The railroad company met great resistance in Mancos and would eventually lose out to the desires of the local residents. At the time of its construction in 1905, this imposing two-story building stood out among its one-story neighbors along this stretch of Main Street.
The Bauer Bank Block is the oldest surviving commercial masonry building in the Mancos Valley, and the only historic commercial building left in town that employs the once popular combination of local sandstone and brick. The Bauer Bank Block is also notable for its interesting detail. High artistic values are exhibited in the pressed tin cornice with scroll modillions and a decorative frieze, the brick detailing of corbelling and dog-toothing, the semicircular arched entry and window, and the two rondels with their decorative surrounds and sandstone keystones. Public commercial storefronts with large plate glass windows are located on the first floor, while more private offices, lodging and meeting rooms are on the second floor behind smaller windows. The Bauer Block further enforces this separation in the use of sandstone on the first floor and brick on the second.
The Bauer

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 16, 2025

3. Bauer Bank Building (east elevation)

Bank Block is a two-story, red brick and sandstone commercial structure with a full basement and a flat roof. The building has a sandstone foundation and a rectangular plan (84 feet long x 35 feet wide) with an oblique corner that faces the intersection and contains the main entrance. Although the basement level is not visible at the street level, sidewalk grates along the north and east facades allow sunlight into the below grade windows.
The north side faces Grand Avenue, the east side fronts Main Street, and the northeast corner entry faces the intersection of the two streets. These facades have irregularly coursed, quarry-faced ashlar with grapevine mortar joints on the first floor. The brick upper walls are laid in a running bond and brick pilasters capped with stone divide the facades into bays. The pressed metal cornice that wraps around the street facades has scroll modillions and a decorative frieze with a repeating framed fleur-de-lis pattern.
The oblique northeast corner has a round-arched entry with radiating voussoirs, a leaded and beveled glass semi-circular transom above glazed oak framed double doors with brass hardware. A brass plaque commemorating the building's restoration in 1998 is located to the left of the door. The upper story is framed by the interlocking brickwork of the pilasters converging at the juncture of the corner and the sides.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 16, 2025

4. Bauer Bank Building (north elevation)

Sidewalk restoration in progress at time of this photo.

The second floor has one large fixed sash window. A name block with "Bauer Bank Block 1905" crowns the cornice and is topped by a wrought iron finial.
The building was restored in 1997-1998 under the auspices of the Colorado Historical Society's State Historical Fund. Work on the building consisted solely of restoration or rehabilitation of existing features. No significant alterations have been made to this structure. The project received the Colorado Historical Society's Stephen Hart Award in 1998. The Bauer Bank Block retains its integrity of design, materials, setting, workmanship, feeling and association.

Excerpt:  It was home of the Bauer Bank, founded in 1886. It has also been known as Bauer Bank Building. Its second floor was the first administrative headquarters for Mesa Verde National Park, from 1907 to 1911. A portion of the building served as U.S. post office from 1927 to 1965. The Bauer Bank Block was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

Excerpt:  The 1905 building is the only remaining evidence

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of the town’s successfully orchestrated effort to defy the Rio Grande Southern Railroad by constructing substantial commercial buildings southeast of the railroad’s siding. This effort established the commercial core of the town closer to the river and set the pattern of development for Mancos as it is known today.
The other commercial buildings at this intersection have all been lost, only the Bauer Bank Block remains. It is the oldest surviving commercial masonry building in the Mancos Valley, and the only historic commercial building left in town that employs the once popular combination of sandstone and brick.