The
Hearst Church in Pinos Altos is shown here on a typical mid-winter
day-- crisp air, warm sun, melting snow, conditions which it's
endured for well over a hundred years, a hymn of adobe, plaster,
bare wood and glass. Unbelievable, we are over 7,000 feet elevation,
walk with peace or you may get winded! (Winter
2002 2003)
This Methodist Church (circa 1898) was
funded by Hearsts and associated with Phebe Hearst, the mother
of the magnate William Randolph Hearst Jr. (he was born 1863,
died1951).... The Church was built some 14 years before New Mexico
became a State. The Hearst family spent time in the area near
Silver City. The family owned the Hearst gold mines near Pinos
Altos, and the gold used between 1922 and 1939 in the construction
of the well-known Hearst Castle Estate in San Simeon, California
was mined in their gold mines. When this photographer was hiking
the hills near this Church, gold was easily still found in old
mine debris. Down the hill from the Church is historic Fort Cobre.