Traffic rolled past the Hayden Congregational Church on Jefferson Avenue Thursday much like more than 100 years have flowed past the iconic building that was built three years before the town of Hayden was incorporated.

“I think it formalizes the role we have had in this town, and it puts in brass something that was already true about the way the story of this town and the story of this church are so deeply connected,” Rev. Dr. Jesse Ophoff said of the building that received historic designation from Routt Couty earlier this week.

“This church was founded, and this is something I discovered through the course of the application process, before Hayden was a town,” he added.

On Tuesday, the Routt County Commissioners designated the Hayden Congregational Church as a historic property recognizing the church’s architectural significance and deep roots in the cultural and civic development within the Hayden community.

The church was nominated based on its Late Victorian Era architectural style and its association with prominent families including the Walkers, Sheltons and Pecks, which were instrumental in the town’s founding and development, according to a news release from the county.

Over the years, Ophoff said the building has hosted religious services, community events, school graduations, and civic meetings that have made it a familiar and cherished landmark. From the time the church was established, he said it has been a home base for many community groups including the Boy Scouts, the local women’s fellowship and the Lions Club.

“It was also where everyone met because this is what there was,” Ophoff said. “Before my time, the women’s fellowship was here, and they made quilts. They made thousands of quilts and sent them all over the country, whether it was because someone just needed something made or to raise funds for the church, or if there a new family or new baby in town. Through their needlework, they just wrapped this community in their warmth.”

Before Hayden officially became a town, Ophoff said the area was home to a group of settlers and different denominations. Missionaries would pass through the area to do baptisms, funerals and weddings.

He said the town’s founders established a congregation in 1899 and decided Hayden needed its own church. Prior to the completion of the church in 1903, the group would meet in a nearby schoolhouse.

The Hayden area was settled in 1874, the townsite was laid out in 1894 and was then officially incorporated in 1906.

“It was a real community effort to make the building itself in the first place,” Ophoff said. “There were 20 founding members, but it wasn’t just them getting the place built. The whole town was invested in having a place.”

Ophoff said The Hayden Congregational Church continues to serve the community today. The church is made up of about 50 voting members plus their children and other friends. Ophoff said most Sundays the church draws members who are outside of that voting body.

“We’re the town church, and if you need us we’re here for you. are here for weddings, funerals and baptisms … we have a lot of folks in this town for whom we are their church,” Ophoff said. “This is where people connected to each other.”