During the first decade of Trinidad's existence, education for children was intermittent and haphazard, with several private schools lasting only a few weeks or months. Although the creation of Las Animas County, with Trinidad as its seat in 1866, laid a framework for a public school system, little was done until 1870. In 1868, pioneer Felipe Baca, who had donated the land on which the Catholic Church stood, offered additional land for a parochial school if the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati would operate it. The Sisters arrived in 1870 and had just organized the parochial school when the County School Board asked them to operate a public school as well. They agreed, beginning Colorado's School District #1 in Trinidad. The school, a two-story adobe, was known as the Sister's Academy. The Sisters of Charity continued to run Trinidad's public schools until 1892. As the area's population increased, more schools were built in many parts of the city, and most students were taught by lay teachers. The present building for Trinidad Catholic Schools, one of Colorado's few parochial schools including grade and high schools, was built in 1922 and later enlarged.