A faded wood building built in 1903 stands boarded up along Main Street in Yampa. A light blue sign over the door reads, “Crossan’s M&A Market.” Inside, a calendar on the wall hangs open to 1964, the year competitors purchased the building and closed it down. Vacant and neglected ever since, it is now slated as one of Colorado’s Most Endangered Places and, seemingly, doomed to become breakfast for a bulldozer.

But to Yampa Valley residents, the 108-year-old building is a historical landmark worth protecting and developing. A nonprofit, Friends of Crossan’s, hopes to defend the building and fund restoration. Instead of a crumbling structure, they see the potential for a town hall and visitors center with room for exhibits and archive space for the Yampa-Egeria Historical Society.

Yampa is a small, tumbleweed-western town and the goal is to take advantage of a culturally significant space, says Noreen Moore, a board member of the FOC. “This will become a very unique building that is open for business,” Moore says. “Imagine walking into a 2,000 square foot open room that has all of these displays and artifacts from the ’40s and ’50s that are still intact.”

Get Involved: On July 3 and 4, Crossan’s Market will be open it’s doors to the public for the first time in decades. Select antique items, such as egg crates and aprons, that have been gathering dust in the market for nearly 50 years, will be available during a silent auction to raise funds for the restoration of the building. The Yampa-Egeria Historical Society will provide old-fashioned pulled-pork BBQ and local ranchers will offer entertainment.

—Photo courtesy of Friends of Crossan’s