Mesa County Genealogical Society

In 2026, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding as a nation and Colorado will celebrate the 150th anniversary of our statehood. History Colorado, the state museum, is taking the lead on planning for the statewide celebration. They have hired extra staff and a PR firm.

There are regional committees around the state working to come up with ideas to celebrate the anniversaries. The MCGS is in the Mountains and Mesas Region which has been broken up into three areas; Mesa and Delta counties, Montrose and Gunnison counties, and the rest of the Southwest counties.

History Colorado has several initiatives in the works for the state celebration:

• Colorado Heritage for All a project to add 150 new unrecognized spaces and places that celebrate lesser-known stories such as communities of color, women, and LGBTQ+ Coloradans. [The Basque Handball Court (Plaza Urrutia) located at the Canyon View Park will be included]. Suggestion can be submitted here
• Mountains to Mesa Passport program, with three locations from each county highlighted. Nominations for the Mesa County Passport can be made here
• Nuestra Historia - a new state museum is planned to celebrate he Spanish/Mexican roots of Colorado.

Listening sessions will be held around the state for new ideas. The Grand Junction session was held on August 27, 5:30-7:30 pm in the Lincoln Park Auditorium.

Suggestions are being taken for sites to include in the historic register and locations for the passports to feature in each county. You may submit a suggestion on the bottom of the homepage located at Colorado 150 America 250

History Colorado is asking organizations related to history to sponsor events of projects related to the anniversary. There will be assistance with publicity, but probably not for funding projects. NCGS is putting together a committee to work on ideas of our group. If you would like to be part of this committee contact please contact Brenda Sabo using the MCGS Programs email on the 'Contact' page of the Mesa County Genealogical Society website.

Mesa County Genealogical Society is a member of the Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies (CCGS) and the National Genealogical Society (NGS). The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was merged with the NGS in the summer of 2019.