Editing Conejos County, Colorado (section)

===Religious history===
The community of Conejos is the location of the oldest extant church house in [[Colorado]], constructed in 1856 and named "Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish".<ref name=parish>{{cite web|url=http://www.ologp.com/read-more--1-.html|title=History|work=ologp.com|publisher=Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish|location=Conejos, Colorado|access-date=November 24, 2020}}</ref>  The first settlers into the area were from [[New Mexico]], primarily from Abiquiu, San Juan de los Caballeros and Santa Cruz. As more people arrived, mission churches were set up and all had the records housed in Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.

When the neighboring town Los Sauces of [[Antonito, Colorado|Anitonito]]  was built, the [[Theatines]], priests from Spain, came into the area and built St. Augustine church in 1880 within Antonito. The church records from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish are now housed at the church offices of Saint Augustine. Conejos is approximately a mile northwest of Antonito.

[[Presbyterians]] came into Conejos County in 1880 establishing churches in Antonito, Alamosa, Cenicero, Del Norte, Mogote, San Rafael, and Monte Vista. They also established schools in the area and had a large number of [[Hispanic]] converts. A [[jacal]] went up in 1854 in Guadalupe, now known as Conejos, which was the beginning of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.

There is also a large [[Mormon]] population within Conejos County. Settlers belonging to [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) began settling in the towns of La Jara, Manassa and Sanford; each town currently has an LDS [[meetinghouse]]. Fox Creek, a village approximately 11 miles west of Antonito, is the newest community to have an LDS meetinghouse erected, although there had previously been a meetinghouse there. Fox Creek, however, does not have a predominantly Mormon population.