The Vela Ranch is located in Delta County near Eckert, and is the second ranch we are recognizing today from the Surface Creek Valley. It was established in 1893 when James and Meri Vela purchased 40 acres from Albert Weir. By 1900, James' brother Caesar Vela arrived from Italy and the two brothers began to expand the ranch. Within ten years it reached its current size of nearly 1200 acres. Today the ranch is owned  and operated by James and Meri's grandchildren, Mary Vela Callahan and James D. Vela and his wife Carol.

The Kehmeier Ranch, which is located near Eckert in Delta County, got its start in 1894 when William Frederick and Leota Kehmeier purchased 65 acres from Charles E. States. That first year William built a small, sod-roofed log cabin, which was home for his family of five for the first couple of years. By the late 1890s they built a second, larger log home, and by 1907 were able to move with their seven children into a fine, two-story house, which remains the family home today.

Alonzo Hamilton brought his family from Iowa in 1886 to homestead in Delta County. The trip by covered wagon took 4 months. Alonzo raised hay, grain, cattle and horses on 165 acres and also had an orchard. He was a successful sheepman as well and ran his sheep from Marble. On his property, Alonzo built a log cabin, stable, granary, fences, dug ditches and planted fruit trees.

Cornelius and Lillie Hendrickson moved to the farm in 1918 and purchased it in 1921, and the Hendrickson Family has continued to farm the land through five generations. They raise apples, peaches, and pasture.

The First Presbyterian Church of Eckert is an excellent example of the Craftsman style as applied to ecclesiastical architecture.  Constructed in two stages between the years 1915-1921, the building exhibits many elements of the style, including a stone exterior, triangular braces, exposed rafters and truss work.  Few Colorado churches utilized the Craftsman style.