Legacy Trades and Businesses

Issue 41, 2020 Legacy Legacy Trades andBusinesses 2020—A Time to Celebrate Our Legacy Trades and Businesses

COVID-19, social distancing, virtual gatherings and curbside pick-up. 2020 has been a year of many new things—certainly one for the history books. The Jefferson County Historical Commission has been working to adapt to the new normal, operating remotely, holding meetings on virtual platforms and trading our signature in-person events (the Historic Preservation Symposium and the Hall of Fame) for video streaming on our social media pages and new YouTube channel. Like many of you, we look forward to the days when we can once again meet face-to-face with each other and with you, the members of our wonderful community. Before we knew “the rona” (as some folks call the novel coronavirus) and how it would change our lives, the JCHC had selected as our 2020 theme “Jeffco’s Legacy Trades and Businesses .” Little did we know what awell-timed choice that would turn out to be. For our commercial enterprises have heavily felt the burden of this pandemic due to stay-at-home orders and restrictions intended to protect public health. It is fitting that we turn our attention to the histories of these businesses and shine a light on them to provide our support just as they have helped build and maintain our communities for so many years. After all, where would Jefferson County be without its entrepreneurs? Those stalwart men and women who for generations have worked long hours to build “mom-and-pop” general merchandise stores, coffee shops and bakeries, auto dealers and repair shops, ranches and greenhouses, breweries and taverns—the places we remember visiting as children and where we buy our essential goods and services as adults. Join us as we delve into the histories of our local trades and businesses large and small. And, when you can, please continue to support these local gems just as they have continued to keep our communities strong and vibrant. Lee Katherine Goldstein—JCHC Chair Planning and Zoning

Published by the Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC) Chair: Lee Katherine Goldstein JCHC Publications Committee Co-Editors: PJ Jones & Carla Opp Photo Editor: Richard Scudder Design & Layout: Renae Hansen Issue 41, 2020 • ISSN 1532-6047

The information in this magazine is solely provided by the authors. JCHC, the Board of County Commissioners and the Publications Committee are not responsible for the opinions of authors or the content of their articles.

Contents Legacy Trades and Businesses Preservation 2 J.W. Green Mercantile: “Almost EVERYTHING” for 140 Years 41 2020 Historic Landmark: Lazy J Ranch By Bonnie Scudder and Deborah Darnell By Richard Scudder 6 The Arvada Tavern: If Walls Could Talk 42 Conley Coffee Shop: Let’s Have Another Piece of Pie! By Carla Opp By Bonnie Scudder 8 Rooney Ranch: Six Generations of Ranching Legacy 44 A Piece of County History Safely Recovered By Andrea Keppers By Ronda Frazier 10 From Greenhouses to Award-winning Garden Center Historical Anniversaries By Anne Echter 12 Home on the Open Range: Ranching in the Jeffco Mountains 46 Long Expedition Brought First U.S. Explorers to Jeffco 200 Years Ago By Marjorie Rodman By Richard Gardner 16 Long Bros’ Garage a Long Time in Business 50 Goosetown a Jewel of Golden’s Heritage By Donna Long Beck By Richard Gardner 18 Mount Lindo: The Cross on the Mountain 53 Golden Church Initiated by “Three Consecrated Women” By Karen Land Cranford By Richard Gardner 21 Stevinson Chevrolet Drives Local Automotive History 55 Moonshiners, Bootleggers and Speakeasies: Prohibition in Jeffco By Richard Gardner By John Steinle 24 Green Gold Sowed in Golden 59 How Colorado Led the Way to Votes for All American Women By Richard Gardner By Bonnie Scudder 26 A Legacy in the Baking at Rheinländer Bakery 62 Comfort Food in a Pandemic By John Steinle By Carla Opp 27 Jeffco’s Carnation Gold Rush Recognition By Deborah Darnell and Bonnie Scudder 63 Ken-Caryl Ranch Historical Society 30 Foss Company: “Meet Your Friends at Foss!” Norm and Ethel Meyer Award for Historic Preservation in Jefferson County By Richard Gardner 64 Jefferson County Hall of Fame: Katherine Lee Craig Premier Legacy Businesses 65 Jefferson County Hall of Fame: Linda Kirkpatrick 34 Brewing an Empire in Golden 66 Guest Contributors By John Steinle 67 Pandemics in 2018 and 2020; Cover Photos 37 Thunder in the Foothills: Lockheed Martin By Richard Scudder and Ralph Dergance 68 About the Jefferson ountyC Historical Commission

Historically Jeffco 2020 1 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES J.W. Green Mercantile: “Almost EVERYTHING” for 140 Years By Bonnie Scudder, Jefferson County Historical Commission, and Deborah Darnell

he small community of Buffalo Creek in the foothills of southwestern Jefferson County had humble beginnings in the Tlate 1870s. It started as a lumber camp, then became a railroad stop when the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad was established there in 1878. Trains transported lumber, minerals, livestock, ice, and passengers to the mountain town and beyond. The following year, a 16-year-old boy named John William Green traveled from Virginia to Denver to seek his fortune. He boarded a train Early photo postcard of “J.W. GREEN, almost to Buffalo Creek, looking for work and a place to EVERYTHING”, 1891. The building included a hotel settle. Green liked the area and decided to stay. and was next to the railway tracks. J.W. Green, Sr., is standing in front After getting work with the Morrison Timber J.W. Green Mercantile Company as a logger, he built a lean-to tent between two large granite boulders along Buffalo ther’s death in 2008. Mary works seven days a Creek. Before long, Green was operating the week, and not much has changed over the life local hotel and general merchandise store right of the J.W. Green Mercantile. next to the railroad First Years of the Mercantile tracks. By 1882, In 1883, Green purchased the general store the town of around from the Morrison Timber Company and 1,400 residents placed a sign reading “J.W. GREEN, almost boasted saloons, a EVERYTHING” for advertisement. The store lumber yard, a doz- was later named “J.W. Green Mercantile.” The en sawmills, a black- Buffalo Creek Post Office has operated in the smith shop, a meat mercantile since 1886, when President Grover market, sheds, load- Cleveland appointed Green as Postmaster. Each ing docks, a hotel, a generation of the Green family has served in mercantile, boarding that capacity. Buffalo Creek in the houses, and some early 1900s. J.W. Green houses. A few gold and silver mines were also The original building was constructed of wood Mercantile is the large operating in the area. in the late 1870s and was destroyed by a huge building near the center, fire late in 1896.* The blaze was likely started The Green family became permanent fixtures in close to the train tracks by a spark from a train, which ran directly in Buffalo Creek, and, over the course of 140 years, and the North Fork of front of the store. Mary Green shared this story the South Platte River descendants of J.W. Green Sr. still live there. about the incident. Scott Melvin The store that Green established there in 1883 is a legacy business, owned and operated continu- It was a Saturday. Everyone was in town from the ously by four generations of the Green family. ranches, and they had been drinking in the saloons. When the blaze started, the group decided to dy- Today, the store’s proprietor is Mary Green— namite the fire into the river, rather than carrying great-granddaughter of the founder—who has water up to put out the fire. It backfired, and much operated the community fixture since her fa- of the town burned, including the mercantile.

* The actual year of the fire has been reported as 1896, 1897 and 1898. Some stories say it happened right before an election, which would indicate 1896, a presidential election year. Some reports tell of Green operating out of his warehouse the following summer. The cornerstone for the replacement building was laid in March 1898.

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Jack Green, grandson of J.W., wrote, Four Generations of Greens The fire occurred just before elections and the Generation #1: John W. Green Sr. (1863- Fun Fact ballot boxes being kept in the store were also 1948) was an integral part of the Buffalo An early settler in destroyed. Election was held in the railroad depot. Creek community. In 1883, he purchased Buffalo Creek was the store, a hotel, and a house on the Platte J. W. Green moved the business to his nearby Stephen H. Hart, River. He married in 1885, but his wife who worked at the warehouse and operated out of it while a new died in childbirth, and the baby died a few store was constructed. He contracted with the mercantile with J.W. months later. In 1888, Green married Jose- Sr., before he became Seerie Investment Company to build the new phine Hennix, and they had two children: mercantile with fireproof 18” square blocks an attorney. Hart was Marie and John W. Jr., both born in Buf- one of the founders made of granite, even though he owned two falo Creek. sawmills in the area. Using granite from nearby of Holland & Hart, a quarries, a 40-foot-by-60-foot structure of two J.W. Green served as postmaster from prominent Denver stories was built. Foot-wide granite blocks were 1886 to 1914. He also oversaw voting at law firm. The research put in place by six men with a mule team and a Buffalo Creek from the mid-1880s un- center at History gin pole (a device that uses a pulley to lift heavy til his death in 1948—over 60 years. In Colorado Center loads). The new building was completed in 1899, Green was the Deputy Sheriff for bears his name. March 1898, and it is still standing and operat- Buffalo Creek and the area. ing 122 years later. Green spent his life in Buffalo Creek, running the mercantile, post office and filling station, playing the banjo for dances, operating a sawmill (which supplied railroad ties for Den- ver Tramway), and working as paymaster for the construction company that was building Cheesman Dam. J.W. and Josephine are buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, as are most Green family members.

Back of mercantile, including Conoco “filling station” Jay Mather Photography, 1975

The first-floor windows are set in round arches, while the rear of the building has rectangular windows and a separate entrance. The first floor housed the mercantile and post office, while the second floor was often used for meetings and dances. John Jr. was quoted as saying, “We would dance until the cans fell off the shelves below.” Generation #2: John W. Green Jr. (1892-1981) Don Green, with A “filling station” has provided the only auto- grew up in Buffalo Creek. He was appointed daughter Mary, motive service in town for over a century. Mary as the first civil service postmaster in 1915 of helping customers Green was told years ago that this is likely the at mercantile Buffalo Creek and served in that capacity until Jay Mather Photography, oldest continuously operated Conoco (Conti- 1962. He and his wife Helen (Haynie) raised 1975 nental Oil Company) station in the country, as three children: John “Jack,” Robert and Donald. the mercantile has been selling Conoco prod- They attended the Buffalo Creek School through ucts since 1884. Conoco kerosene was sold be- the eighth grade, then stayed with grandparents fore gasoline pumps were installed in 1937, a in Denver while attending high school. All three sign of the times, since the train had stopped sons had helped in the store while growing up, running to Buffalo Creek and the automobile and later served in World War II. Helen man- had become the preferred mode of travel. aged the store and served as assistant postmaster, followed by her youngest son, Donald.

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Generation #3: Donald William Green (1922- for designation included commerce and social 2008) was born in Denver and came to Buffalo history. John W. Green Jr. accepted the bronze Creek a week later. After his service in World plaque from the Jefferson County Historical War II, he attended Regis College and earned Commission, which is proudly displayed in the a B.S. degree in 1948. Two years later, he mar- mercantile. At the time of its nomination, the ried Patricia Harden, settling in Buffalo Creek mercantile had been run by three generations of where they raised four children: Don, Mary, the Green family. The nomination stated, James, and Tom. In addition to managing the The store is a prime candidate for nomination to mercantile, Donald was appointed postmas- the National Register and is a significant land- ter of Buffalo Creek in 1962 and served until mark in the community, one of the best remain- 2008. Patricia Green managed the mercantile ing examples of the general store supplying all of with the help of daughter Mary. According to the possible needs of the community. Mary Green, “My dad began working in the store in 1950 and worked every day until he The mercantile is also listed on the Colorado died in 2008.” State Register of Historic Properties and was designated as a “Centennial Site” by the Jeffer- Don’s older brother Jack started delivering gro- son County Centennial-Bicentennial Commis- ceries for the mercantile in the family’s Model sion in 1975. T Ford truck at the age of 11. Jack wrote many stories about the early history of Buffalo Creek, J. W. Green Sr. was named to the Jefferson his family, and the family business. He worked County Historical Commission’s Hall of Fame at a variety of jobs, including several overseas. in 2014. His contributions included being a After his retirement, he and his wife returned to “pioneer, businessman and community leader.” Buffalo Creek, where Jack wrote stories for Buf- Mr. Green worked his way up from a newcomer falo Beginnings and Through the Years: The People to the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad and Places of Buffalo Creek, Colorado, sharing stop called ‘Buffalo’ to a successful businessman, his family’s history and his remembrances. postmaster, deputy sheriff, and community activist Generation #4: Since 2008, who provided for the residents of Buffalo Creek. the mercantile has been In addition, a framed recognition plaque from owned and managed by the Continental Oil Company, aka Conoco, Mary Green, who earned a was presented to J.W. Green “with great ap- business degree from Uni- preciation for your loyalty—proved by selling versity of Colorado, Denver. Conoco products since 1884.” As youngsters, she and her brothers had worked in the J.W. Green Mercantile in 2020 family business, delivering Little has changed over the years. The mercan- groceries to families, and gen- tile continues to house the Buffalo Creek Post erally helping out as needed. Office, where most of the area residents rent Mary Green stocking shelves Summers were the busiest when families from post office boxes. Dating from the 1890s, these at the mercantile Denver came up to enjoy their summer cabins. boxes are made of ornate brass, with a glass Jay Mather Photography, After college, Mary worked in the civil service front and two dial-combination locks. 1975 in Washington, D.C., then returned home and commuted to a job in Denver. Tired of the long drive, she then worked in local post offices and substituted for the postmistress in Pine Grove for many years. Mary assumed responsibility of the post office in 2008 and has served as the clerk ever since. Her younger brother James also lives in Buffalo Creek and helps her at the store as needed. Special Honors… In 1974, J.W. Green Mercantile was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Criteria Chuck Shissler, Buffalo Creek, opening his mailbox Jay Mather Photography, 1975

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The mercantile was still the local polling place into the early 2000s. As described by Dorothy Lom- bard, Buffalo Creek resident, in Buffalo Beginnings: Election day was always a time to see friends, admire babies, eat cookies, share news, and vote. Each year, Elk Creek Elementary School fourth graders visit Buffalo Creek to tour the mercantile as part of their social studies program which covers the history of Colorado. The students are sent on a scavenger hunt to find various items and artifacts. They seem to really enjoy these visits while learning about life a century ago. Some of the artifacts the students discover include the ice box that had once been stored in the warehouse and thus was spared in the fire in 1896. Well before refrigeration was available, the ice box kept items cold from the large block of ice in the top compartment. The ice was hoisted into the compartment with the large tongs suspended from the ceiling. J.W. Green, Jr., leaving the mercantile built by his father 77 years earlier Jay Mather Photography, 1975 Coca-Cola signs dating from the 1950s hang on the walls. A buggy-whip rack is also a curiosity, as is the original telephone booth—now I remember the quaint interior, the creaky floors, quite the novelty for the younger visitors. the old cabinets stocked with items that had sat unmoved for years. Still, it was a lively place. J.W. Green Sr’s original cash register bearing People coming for their mail, buying a few neces- his name embossed on the front is still in use. sities, and talking endlessly with Don Green, the The register was made in 1882, and the highest owner’s son, and his daughter, Mary. It was a amount that could be recorded for a transaction community center that local residents counted on was $19.00. Taxes are still calculated by the sales- for supplies and gossip. clerk, as the register has no way to compute them. That recollection of the J. W. Green Mercantile Whereas the mercantile used to be fully stocked is still apt today, 45 years later, and nearly 140 with canned goods and a wide variety of other years since the store was established. products, times and needs have changed. Now, the store sells souvenirs such as tee shirts and sweat- shirts, some hardware, over-the-counter medica- Works Cited: tions, candy, cigarettes, and a few food items. Interview with Bob Allen, The Pine Emporium, May 2020. Bentley, Margaret V. The Upper Side of the Pie Crust. Jefferson County Historical Society, 1985. The community of Buffalo Creek today in- Email between the author and Richard J. Gardner Re: earliest family businesses in Jeffco, May 2020. cludes other descendants of early families who Green, Jack. “Greens of Buffalo Creek, Colorado,” Buffalo Beginnings. 1985. enjoy mountain living as did their ancestors. Interview with Mary Green, 5/14/2020. Some of them live in homes built by these early Heideman, Lee. “Three Town Founders on the North Fork,” Historically Jeffco. Vol. 18, Issue 26, 2005. settlers. Others lost their homes in the Buffalo Historic Contexts Report 2002: Cultural Resources Survey of Unincorporated Jefferson County Creek Fire in 1996 and have rebuilt. J.W. Green 1999-2002. Jefferson County Historical Commission, 2002. Mercantile has always been the center of their http://barbaraford2.blogspot.com/2010/05/little-shop-of-history-students-sold-on-the-past-in- visit-to-J.W.-Green-Mercantile. community, for generation after generation. Lombard, Dorothy. Buffalo Beginnings and through the years: The People and Places of Buffalo Creek, Jay Mather, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojour- Colorado. 1985. Email communications between the author and Jay Mather regarding photo use and nalist who worked for Denver’s Sentinel News- recollections, May 2020. papers in the mid-1970s, visited the mercantile McDonald, Jo and Shelly Means interview of Mary Green, from the North Fork Oral History Project, in 1975. He took many of the photos featured 2012. https://jeffcostories.omeka.net/exhibits/show/north-fork-valley/mary-green in this article. Of his visit there, he wrote: Interview with Scott Merlin, Buffalo Creek resident and historian, May 2020. Interview with Janet Shown, Buffalo Creek resident and historian, May 2020. U.S. Census Reports.

Historically Jeffco 2020 5 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES The Arvada Tavern: If Walls Could Talk By Carla Opp, Jefferson County Historical Commission

alking into The Arvada Tavern’s time and into the late 1970s. The tavern’s cur- dimly lit, upscale cocktail lounge rent owners were inspired by the Seipp’s era and of today, it’s hard to imagine that remodeled the tavern in the 1940s style, creat- Wa blacksmith shop once stood on this very ing a hip gathering place to watch skilled bar- spot. In fact, this popular speakeasy-style bar tenders shake and pour cocktails. on 5707 Olde Wadsworth Blvd. in Olde Town Arvada boasts over a century of serving as a variety of retail establishments. In 1910, John E. Borba built the two-story brick building as a blacksmith shop on the ground floor with living quarters above. Blacksmiths provided essential services to farmers who still used horse-drawn vehicles such as buggies and wagons. Keeping up with the times and the Adolf Seipp proprietor outside of the Arvada Tavern, 1940 increasing popularity of automo- The Arvada Tavern biles in the 1920s, the building was next T.J. Hartman’s auto repair garage; his wife Sometime between the 1940s and the late operated a beauty parlor on the second floor. 1950s, the building’s façade was changed to re- Several more automotive businesses are said to flect a more modern architectural style, includ- have been housed here until 1933 when Adrian ing a flat roof, a cornice of dark red brick, and “Dutch” Klein opened the Dutch Inn. a decorative frieze of buff brick. It remains a two-story building today. This was perfect timing for opening a tavern. Al- though Prohibition was still in effect, President In 1957, the building housed Bernard’s Fine Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress passed the Dining Restaurant along with the Arvada Cullen-Harrison Act on March 22, 1933 allow- Tavern (not to be confused with Bernard’s of ing the legal sale of 3.2 beer and wine. The tavern has the distinction of being issued the first tavern license in the city of Arvada on April 7, 1933. Rumor has it that Adrian Klein also received the first shipment of Coors beer that day, which is entirely possible, as Coors Brewery had trucks and trains ready to deliver beer at one minute after midnight. At that time, Coors was the only brewery in Colorado furnishing beer for trade. The Arvada Tavern sported Coors beer signs outside for years, and one of those original neon signs still The Tavern with signature glass blocks surrounding hangs inside today. the entrance. Note the rounded striped awning to Many remember when the tavern was operated the right which marked the entrance to Bernard’s Fine Dining. Mid to late 1960s by Adolf Seipp and his wife Marie from 1938 The Arvada Tavern to 1959. Mabel Gramm tended bar during that

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Arvada on Wadsworth Parkway from 1964 to 1989). The entry Fun Fact to Bernard’s Fine Dining was The tavern’s new owners moved the 1940s era phone booth to the front corner for marked with a striped awning customers to step through on their way up the stairs to the Bernard Ballroom. The spanning the sidewalk and facing second-floor speakeasy is named for the former Bernard’s Fine Dining Restaurant Olde Wadsworth with inside stairs housed there years ago. leading to the second-floor dining room and live music venue. In the 1960s, the tavern was known as Fred’s Lounge or “Freddy’s,“ with the name “Arvada Tavern” still over the door. The large Fred’s Lounge neon sign hung off the front of the building advertising cocktails, fine food, and dinners. Customers entered from both front and back doorways, the latter being a popular choice since it was just off an alley that ran behind the row of buildings. Hardwood floors creaked as you walked into the long narrow dimly lit space. Stools lined the bar and a few booths were located along one wall. Customers from that era recall the shuffleboard table that ran through the tavern, providing hours of entertainment for pa- trons over the years. Arvada locals remember it as a family place. Ar- vada native and historian Nancy Young recalled:

It was a different time then. Everyone knew The Arvada Tavern in 2020 everyone. I remember going to Freddy’s with my Renae Hansen Dad and sat at the bar like any other customer to have a Coke while my Dad enjoyed a cold beer. Works Cited: “Arvada: From Farming Community to Atomic Age Suburb,” Karen Gardella, another town native, recalled Historic Building Survey of Olde Town Arvada and the similar experiences. “I practically grew up there,” Allendale and Alta Vista Neighborhoods. SWCA Environmental she said, especially remembering the shuffle- Consultants, Broomfield, CO. 3/24/2015. Interview with Karen Gardella, former Arvada resident, board and the family-friendly atmosphere. 4/15/2020. Interview with Sarah Molineux, General Manager, The Arvada Today the legacy of the Arvada Tavern contin- Tavern, 4/15/2020. ues. It is part of the Arvada Downtown Historic VoyageDenver.com. 6/24/2019. District which is on both the National and State ArvadaTavern.com. Registers of Historic Places. You will know the Ancestry.com. place by the rows of glass blocks surrounding Interview with Nancy Young, Arvada native and historian/ the front door and the large metal letters spell- researcher, 6/8/2020. https://theknow.denverpost.com/2019/06/26/arvada-tavern- ing out the Arvada Tavern above the door. restaurant-review/217653/ In 2012 new owners Mike Huggins and Lenka Colorado Transcript, Number 25, 4/20/1933. Juchelkova brought back that speakeasy vibe Long, Tanya. Legendary Locals of Arvada. Arcadia Publishing, 2015. with mid-twentieth century cocktails and live music in the upstairs Bernard Ballroom. Oh, if these tavern walls could talk, the stories they would tell.

Historically Jeffco 2020 7 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Rooney Ranch: Six Generations of Ranching Legacy By Andrea Keppers, Curator & Education Specialist, Hiwan Museum

“I have nothing very flatring [sic] to offer you in the way of Emeline and Alexander’s first son, Otis, was the common comforts of life, in way of houses and furni- born on the “west bank of the Cherry Creek in ture but as you are somewhat a child of nature I trust you Denver” in November 1862, so it seems they will have a feast of the mind.“ spent their first winter in Colorado in the city. —Alexander Rooney to Emeline Littlefield, August 12, 1861 The years 1863 and 1864 were busy ones for the Rooneys, establishing the ranch on which they ike so many frontier courtships, that of bred Morgan horses and Galloway cattle, and Alexander Rooney and Emeline Little- building the fine, coursed stone ranch house. field was conducted through letters that describedL hardship amid natural beauty. Alex- ander left his betrothed in Iowa as he set out for Colorado to “seek his fortune” in 1859. Over the next three years, Alexander made a precarious living in Colorado and New Mexi- co. He worked as a stonemason, teamster, dairy farmer, and short-term prospector. Alexander returned to Emeline in Iowa and married her in March 1862. De- spite fraught negotiations with Eme- line’s parents over the practicalities of settling in Colorado territory, the newly- Rooney Ranch main house Library of Congress, Historic Buildings Survey weds headed west to begin building what would become one of the largest ranches The Rooney Ranch house is a superb example between Denver and Morrison. Their legacy of Alexander’s skill as a stonemason and a sign Emeline Littlefield Rooney is now the oldest and only continuously oper- of the family’s early prosperity. Set on a foun- Evergreen Mountain Area ating ranch owned by the same family in Jef- dation of local limestone and made from 18- Historical Society ferson County. inch, hand-cut and -dressed sandstone blocks, Settling in Colorado the two-story home was completed in 1865 and still stands as one of the oldest stone dwell- During his first years in Colorado, Alexan- ings in Jeffco. The mortar between ashlars was der passed through the valley east of the Da- made from locally made lime, perhaps from kota hogback between Morrison and Golden the Rooney’s own limestone kiln, mixed with numerous times on his way between Denver sand from Rooney Creek. This home and other and the high country. He noticed the tall na- ranch buildings (mostly built after 1937 using tive grasses, plenty of stone for building, spring stone rubble from the construction of Alameda water seeping from the sandstone, and a creek Parkway) were entered in the National Register running through the valley. These things led of Historic Places in 1975. him to settle there at the base of the hogback, Mutual Respect with Ute Indians naming the property Iron Spring Ranch after the iron-rich spring there. The land surrounding the ranch headquarters It is unclear when Alexander Rooney first had been used by the Ute Indians for centuries claimed or purchased the land that would be- before Rooney arrived. They continued to pass come the ranch, but tax records establish him as through and gather at special sites until the end a “horse dealer” at Iron Spring Ranch in 1864. of the nineteenth century, all in goodwill with the Rooney family.

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The iron spring was sacred to teacher from Golden, discovered the Utes, who covered their the first fossils of some of the bodies in the mineral-rich mud largest known dinosaurs: Apato- and peeled it off in an act of pu- saurus, Diplodocus, and Stego- rification. Another natural site saurus. This discovery led to the that had long been visited by “bone wars,” a mad rush to un- the Utes was a large ponderosa cover more gigantic and strange pine growing out of the hogback fossils along the hogback. overlooking the ranch. The tree The next major dino discovery is enormous, estimated to be on Rooney land was caused by over 400 years old now, and was the construction of Alameda the largest tree on the hillside, Parkway. In 1937, the city of thereby making it a recognizable Denver extended Alameda over landmark for the nomadic Utes. the ridge to Red Rocks Park, According to Rooney family Alex Rooney in front of Bluebird Mine going right through the Rooney lore, Chief Colorow would sit in Ranch. Cutting the road ex- its shade and hold council, thus Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society posed dinosaur tracks and a pre- earning it the name “Colorow historic seabed. Today, visitors Council Tree.” to Dinosaur Ridge look down In the twentieth century, the Rooney family en- onto the Rooney Ranch from the track site larged the clearing around the tree, built rock trail, and the Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center is retaining walls and barbeque grills, turning the currently inside a house built in 1959 by Alex spot into a picnic area. Eventually they electrified Rooney (grandson of Alexander). the area and hosted dances for the Lions Club Continuing the Rooney Legacy and other community groups. Today the tree and picnic area are owned by Jeffco Open Space Through nearly 160 years, the Rooney family and are a Jefferson County Historic Landmark. ranch has grown and contracted through all of Colorado’s booms and busts, and it remains in Coal, Clay, and Dinosaur Bones the care of the descendants of that newlywed Rooney Ranch land was also rich in natural re- couple from Iowa. Six generations of Rooneys sources, like coal and clay. Coal was mined in have occupied the original homestead between the valley as early as 1859, and the Rooneys got Green Mountain and the Dakota hogback, the in the mining business in 1872 when Alexander core of which is the 30-acre family compound. leased some land to the operators of the Satanic Today’s Rooneys operate a custom flooring busi- (later Bluebird) Mine. Several other mines were ness, a testament to the long line of skilled crafts- leased from the Rooneys or owned by them men in the family, and continue to raise cattle, outright, and by the end of World War I the horses, and hay. Despite the pressures of devel- mines in the Rooney valley employed nearly opment, the hand-built structures still stand, 100 men, including Rooney family members. and the family has endured, finding success in a The Dakota formation contains high-quality variety of ventures, just as the patriarch and pio- clay beds that are still being mined for tile and neer, Alexander, did in the 1860s. brick. All along both sides of the hogback from Golden to the Rooney Ranch are clay pits, evi- Works Cited: dence of one of Jefferson County’s earliest in- Davidson, John, Katherine Honda, and Beth Simmons, The dustries. The Rooneys leased land to Robinson Rooney Ranch. Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, 2010. “Otis Rooney, Pioneer, Crosses Last Frontier,” East Jefferson Brick to exploit the rich deposits. Sentinel, 6/26/1947. Quarrying and clay mining near the ranch also Rooney, Alexander and Emeline Littlefield letter file, April 1860-February 1862, Denver Public Library Western History and helped expose some of the greatest paleontologi- Genealogy Collection. cal discoveries in the West. While hiking in the “Rooney Ranch,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory late 1870s near a quarry on the western side of Nomination Form, 1974. the Rooney property, Arthur Lakes, a geology U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918.

Historically Jeffco 2020 9 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES From Greenhouses to Award-winning Garden Center By Anne Echter, Sales Manager, Echter’s Nursery and Garden Center

or many families in north Jeffco, spring- Davis Bros. Wholesale Florists. The business time prompts a welcome visit to Echter’s won numerous awards for the quality of their Nursery and Garden Center at 52nd and carnations and also introduced new varieties into FGarrison Streets in Arvada. The Echter family the market. boasts a long tradition of growing and selling The company expanded over the years, growing flowers and plants over four generations. from 15,000 to 60,000 square feet. Eventually, Jim moved to southern California in 1965 and started his own greenhouse operations there, while Bob continued to build greenhouses in Arvada until the business reached to over 100,000 square feet. However, in the 1970s, the dramatic rise of South American imported carnations combined with the spiraling costs of heating fuel forced Echter’s to find ways to diversify their business. Bob and his son Steve decided to start growing bedding plants for the local market. Second and Third Generations

Left to right: Bob, Jim, Bob and Mary Echter had four sons and two Paul and Don Echter Modest Beginnings daughters, who all worked for varying lengths As a young man, George Echter emigrated from of time at the greenhouse. Sons Steve and Dave Germany to Iowa, where he built a greenhouse have owned and operated the company since and flower shop in 1922. He also had acres out- 1989. Bob, Steve and Dave were together inside of town where he grew trees and shrubs for ducted into the Colorado Floricultural Hall of landscapes. He and his wife Opal had four sons, Fame in 2002. who each became involved in floriculture. Steve, President of Echter’s, is a past president Two of those sons—Bob and Jim—began Ech- of Colorado Greenhouse Growers Association. ter’s greenhouse operation. Bob graduated from He is a founding board member of the Garden Colorado A&M (now Colorado State Uni- Centers of Colorado, a former board member versity) in 1950 with a degree in horticulture of the Professional Plant Growers Association, and purchased a greenhouse in Lakewood. Jim owned a flower shop in Iowa. In 1959, the two brothers bought the greenhouse and land where Echter’s Nursery and Garden Center stands today. While the greenhouse was small, there was plenty of land for their plans for expansion. Echter’s started as a grower of cut-carnations Greenhouses in 1963, before retail with an exclusive marketing agreement through

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Echter’s in 2008 Dave and Steve Echter a past member of the Home & Garden Show- Echter’s Today place Advisory Council, and was president of Today Echter’s is one of the largest re- the Garden Centers of America. tail garden centers in Colorado, with As Echter’s General Manager, Dave has served about 70,000 square feet of display on the boards of the Colorado Floriculture area inside the store. Echter’s offers Foundation and Green Industries of Colorado, over 2,500 varieties of flowers each and is a past president of Colorado Greenhouse year. All of the annuals, perennials, Growers Association. His wife Anne works in roses and poinsettias grown in Ech- the office and sales. ter’s greenhouses are sold through Two of Dave and Anne’s children work in the the retail store. Echter’s also sells business today: Jeff as the garden store manag- trees and shrubs, and houseplants. er and Julie as the assistant store manager. Jeff Echter’s owes much of its success to Mary and Bob Echter serves on the board of the Garden Centers of the dedication and hard work of several key em- Colorado and is a Colorado Certified Nursery ployees. The business has about 30 full- and part- Professional. time staff year-round, and employs 90 workers for the spring season.

Just a few of Echter’s many honors:

2000 2004 and 2005 2005 2008

Named best general Named top garden Steve and Dave were Named national Garden garden center in center by readers of the awarded the Lloyd J. King Center Retailer of the metro Denver by Rocky Mountain News Entrepreneurial Spirit Award Year by the Garden Westword Magazine by the Arvada Economic Centers of America Development Association and the City of Arvada, the highest award given to a business

Historically Jeffco 2020 11 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Home on the Open Range: Ranching in the Jeffco Mountains By Marjorie Rodman

Cattleman Jim Phelps, far left, and his d Culver and Jim Phelps were two of the Culver had 160 acres of timber along Six Mile cowhands in front of the handful of cattlemen who ran their herds Creek north of Deckers, and when he encouraged chuckwagon at Lower on the open range in the southern tip of the Phelpses to join him, they took a half section Six Mile Ranch about EJefferson County at the turn of the last century. to the south and named it Lower Six Mile Ranch. 1904. Jim’s wife Carrie is third from the right Though their cattle operations have ended, the The plan was to clear the trees, sell the timber, and Collection of the author ranches remain as their families’ legacies today. then raise hay and cattle. With the high altitude, The two men met in 1882, when Jim came out lack of water, and thick forests, the mountains from Kansas with his parents to visit family offered limited options for agriculture—thus, who had settled along Last Resort Creek near growing cool weather vegetables, raising hay, and Foxton. Ed Culver and his brother Will were running cattle were the mainstays. cutting timber and running cattle between Last As historian Cathleen Norman explains in Resort and Elk Creek, and Jim and Ed became “Historic Mountain Ranching in Jefferson fast friends, and then in-laws—Will married County,” cattle ranching required expansive Jim’s sister Nettie in 1883 and Ed married an- land holdings because each cow needed 35 to other sister, Addie, in 1889. 40 for grazing. Phelps probably ran less than Jim and his father returned to Kansas but 100 cows; Culver had at least double that num- vowed to come back for good as soon as they ber. Without enough pasture on their home- could settle their affairs. In 1887, they arrived steads, they leased government lands, made to take homesteads, and the rest of the Phelps use of the open range, and raised hay for ad- clan soon followed. ditional feed. Culver’s herd ranged through the Lost Park Wilderness spanning Jefferson and

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Park Counties, while Phelps ran his cattle along Fourmile Creek. A 1934 interview by the Civil Works Admin- Cattlemen istration (CWA) with an unnamed Colorado branding a steer rancher provides more background: in the 1900s. The roper is holding This part of the country in the early days was the lasso tight for a vast expanse of territory which contained no the brander fences except at a few homesteads adjoining the Collection of the author Platte River. The cattle grazed quietly, chuck when one breaks away from the herd and gallops wagons bounced on their way to roundups, cow- madly up and down hill, and you gallop after boys singing to their stock, calves being roped and him anywhere, over and among rocks and trees, the pungent odor of burning cow hair as it came doubling when he doubles, and heading him till in contact with red hot branding irons, this was you get him back again. The cows with calves, old the picture in 1882 … or young, were most trouble-some. By accident I rode between one cow and her calf in a narrow The Hard Work of Cattle Ranching place, and the cow rushed at me and was just get- Culver and Phelps were both tough as nails, ting her big horns under the horse, when he reared, and they did whatever it took to make a living and spun aside … These trained cattle-horses keep off the land. perfectly cool, and, nearly without will on my part, The two ranchers rounded up their cattle in the mine jumped aside at the right moment … summer to brand calves and in the fall to drive Frank Hodgson, another CWA interviewee, de- selected cows to market. Isabella Bird, who scribed the important job of the roper at brand- wrote about her adventures traveling through ing time: the West on horseback in 1882, described a When branding calves it was the responsibility of roundup as follows: the roper to bring the calf as near to the men who You drive them as gently as possible, so as not to were doing the branding as possible, throw the calf excite or frighten them, riding first on one side, and call out the brand to the men who held the calf then on the other, to guide them; and if they down. These men released the rope immediately, deliberately go in a wrong direction, you gallop in so that the roper could get another calf. This whole front and head them off. The great excitement is responsibility of placing the proper brand on a calf

Culver and Phelps Family Histories falo Creek. In 1895, Culver took a new homestead four miles north. Upper Six Mile (now Green Mountain Ranch, named Edwin Eugene Culver, the oldest son of to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974) gave him a sea captain, Sylvanus Culver, and his more pasture, but he still had to make use of the open range. wife Suzanne Otto, was born in New York State in 1851. His mother died James Alby Phelps, the fifth child of Ca- when he was 9, and Ed was indentured nadian George Phelps and his Scottish to a family. His daughter Ethel Culver wife, Betsy Mitchell, was born in 1857 in Myers, interviewed in 1977, told Mar- Upper New York State. His father moved Edwin E. Culver the family to Illinois and then Kansas Collection of garet Bentley for her book “The Upper Virginia Phelps Side of the Piecrust,” her father wasn’t before he settled in Colorado, at each stop building a house and establishing treated well, so he ran away as soon as James A. Phelps he could and traveled around the country, picking up jobs in Collection of the author a farm before moving on to where he Michigan, then Montana and North Dakota. He ended up in thought the grass might be greener. Texas, where he took a job as an engineer with the Houston Jim had worked alongside his father since boyhood; he could and Texas Central Railroad, but he had “some lung trouble” build a barn, clear and plow a field, harvest crops, and drive and moved to Colorado for his health. He said he weighed a team of horses or mules with the best of them. A niece said “three pounds less than a straw hat” when he arrived in Buf- about Jim, “There wasn’t anything that man didn’t do!”

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I liked the fall period best, because that was The brands of Ed Culver, Upper Six Mile (now Green Mt. Ranch); Jim when the local ranchers had their Beef Roundup Phelps, Lower Six Mile; Johnnie Higginson, Higginson Ranch (now Swan); to gather the cattle which they would ship from and Arthur White, Long Scraggy, are shown below: Buffalo Creek to Denver on the C.&S. I could only ride with the cowboys when they rode the range between the forks of the North and South Platte Rivers. It was quite exciting as the cattle in Culver Phelps Higginson White those days were almost as wild as deer. After the cattle to be sold were gathered, they were driven rested with the roper. It was he who must read the in a large herd to the stockyard on the flats below brand on the mother of every calf he roped. Green’s store. Loading the cattle into the boxcars In the fall, the animals to be sold were driven was another highlight as the train was usually to Denver. Culver’s daughter Ethel Myers said late and all the kids could participate in the load- her dad wouldn’t sell a cow until it was four ing and also be permitted to sit by the cowboys’ years old—in those days, it took that long to be campfire and listen to their tall tales. in prime condition. As a young woman, Ethel rode on cattle drives with her father and the other cattlemen. She told Margaret Bentley: After beef roundup in the fall, the cattle were driven to the stockyard in Denver, at first down Broadway, using the old Grant Smelter stack for a landmark. When Broadway grew up, they used York Street. The wild cattle would chase people from their own yards into their houses, Denver Stock Yards and Colorado Packing and Provision Company building, 1900 even staring in the windows Denver Public Library trying to get at them. Harder Times Ahead The drive took about four days, and the cattle lost a lot A winter snowstorm could spell disaster. Dur- Green Mountain Ranch on State of weight. To the relief of the ing the record-setting blizzard of 1913, Culver Highway 126, south of Buffalo Creek cattlemen, Ethel explained, and Phelps lost half their cattle. In an article for Named to the National Register of Historic the railroad finally put in “Beyond Historically Jeffco,” Richard Gardner Places on 10/1/1974, 5JF.193 a loading chute at Buffalo described the storm: Originally registered as a Creek in 1911: The weather forecast was ‘partly cloudy,’ but as mining claim, the land was later The C. & S. Narrow gauge Jefferson County people went about their lives a homesteaded and cattle ranched fierce wind blew upon them early Thursday morn- by Edwin Eugene Culver. The railroad which ran through Buffalo for all these years, fi- ing, December 4, 1913. With it came snow, snow surviving one-story ranch house, and more snow, blowing in and piling relentlessly with a medium pitch gabled roof, nally was persuaded to put in upon the region. It was unlike any storm Jeffco had rests on a fieldstone foundation. corrals and a loading [chute] Exterior walls were constructed on the flat between Mr. ever seen …The snowfall levels were staggering: 5 with hand-hewn square logs and Green’s store and Highway feet at Golden and Evergreen, 4 feet at Creswell half-dovetailed joints. The original 126. A spur came in from the and Morrison … A century later this great storm circa 1900 portion measured main line that went in front stands alone atop Jeffco record books, for most snow approximately 30 feet by 40 feet. of the store and [to the] back in a single storm, most snow in a 24-hour period, An expansion several years later of his stone warehouse. and longest lasting snow cover afterward. added a first floor living room and Ethel’s son Bill, who took World War I (1914-18) brought more hard increased the space for bedrooms times. Cattlemen suffered as beef sales fell, and in the attic. part in roundups as a teenager in the 1920s, recalled, Phelps was nearly wiped out.

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During Prohibition (which began in 1916 in Colorado), the Into the Sunset cattlemen had to stay a step ahead of revenue agents if they Culver managed to hang on until just before the Great De- wanted a drink. If Buffalo Creek was being searched, “Deck- pression in 1929, but he finally had to sell his cattle. The ers Springs” remained open for business 14 miles south. Steve Colorado Transcript reported on January 12, 1928: Decker had built a general store with cabins on both sides of Mr. E. E. Culver, one of the the Platte River—one side oldest cattlemen in this vicin- was Douglas County and ity, is selling out. He shipped the other was Jefferson. practically the last of his stock Decker also owned a sa- Tuesday. loon that he had to move from time to time, as local The old cattlemen were a resident Dorothy Roerig vanished breed, Ethel Myers explained in 1972: used to say as she described her father and the men he They used to tell the story rode with: that during Prohibition, the cowboys used to come Ed Culver, Stetson pulled into Deckers on a Friday tightly down to just above or Saturday night and his eyebrows, drooping sandy they said they never knew moustache. Even in the hottest whether the bar was going weather, shirt sleeves buttoned to be in Douglas County at the cuffs, shirt collars tightly or across the river in Jef- buttoned at the neck—no bare ferson County, because skin—corduroy pants, saddle- it depends if they’d been bent legs, colorful speech. All searching Douglas County [the old riders] more or less why then they moved alike: Johnnie Higginson, now everything over to Jefferson Swan Ranch; “Sep” Akerman, County. And then Jeffer- West Creek; Jim Phelps, Six son, they’d move it back Mile Creek; Henry, Jack, and Jim Phelps with his horse and dog in Buffalo Creek about 1915 Ned Corbin, Resort Creek, over to Douglas. So they Collection of Virginia Phelps said the cowboys would now Butterfield Ranch. come in and they’d stand there [asking], ‘Well where do we go, Sitting beside a blazing fire on a cold winter evening at her which side of the river do we go tonight to get our booze?’ Green Mountain Ranch, Ethel would raise her glass and give a toast: “Here’s to the old riders, God bless them!”

Works Cited: Bentley, Margaret V. The Upper Side of the Pie Crust. Evergreen, Jefferson County Historical Society, 1985. Bird, Isabella L. A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains. Dover Publications, Inc., 2003. Civil Works Administration. 1934. Doc. 341/40 and Doc. 33/343, Colorado Historical Society. https://www.unco.edu/hewit/doing-history/colorado-farmers-ranchers/ ranch-work-tools/cattle-ranches.aspx Gardner, Richard J. “The 100th Anniversary of the Great Blizzard,” Beyond Historically Jeffco. Jefferson County Historical Commission, 2013. https://historicjeffco.wordpress. com/publications/jchc-magazine/beyond-historically-jeffco/ Harden, Johanna L. Interview with Dorothy Roerig, 1992. Castle Rock Historical Society Oral History Project. Douglas County Libraries. http://douglascountyhistory.org/ digital/collection/doh/id/185 Leonard, Stephen J. “Colorado in World War I,” Colorado WWI Centennial Commission, 2017. https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/colorado-in-wwi-home-page.html Lombard, Dorothy, Editor. Buffalo Beginnings and Through the Years: The People and Places of Buffalo Creek, Colorado. 1985. Myers, Bill. “Reminiscences,” Buffalo Beginnings and Through the Years. Interviews with Ethel Culver Myers, 1974-78. Norman, Cathleen. “Historic Mountain Ranching in Jefferson County.” The Jefferson County Historical Commission, 2018. Phelps, Virginia. Phelps family files. Thank you, Ginny! Roerig, Dorothy M. “Historical Facts.” Unpublished manuscript, 1969. Collection of the author.

Historically Jeffco 2020 15 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Long Bros’ Garage a Long Time in Business By Donna Long Beck t the beginning of the 1900s, new in- towing service no longer exists, Bill still services dustries such as communications and small engines, light trucks, and automobiles. automobiles began to catch the atten- The Long family has made a significant impact Ation of many Americans. Among them were on the community in a variety of ways. Charles Conifer residents Charles F. Long and his was a life member of the Telephone Pioneers sons Rudy and Harlan, who owned and ran of America. He strung miles of phone lines the Clifton Farms. between Denver and Leadville, providing the Rudy was especially captivated by the automo- poles cut from Clifton Farms and lumbered at tive engine and vehicles, and in 1917 the family the saw mill by his son, Harlan. He installed opened Long Bros’ Garage—still in operation a telephone switchboard in his home at the today, now in its fourth generation of Long Clifton House, which family members oper- family members. ated until 1921 when the service was moved to Bailey. Charles was also elected a police officer of Jefferson County in the 1920s. Harlan was in- trigued by farm and ranch engines. He operated a sawmill on the ranch, providing lumber to home and business builders in the community, with much of the 2nd Long Bros Garage, 1939-1957 Both brothers operated the first garage on the lumber transported to Denver for sale. One Author’s collection Denver-Leadville Stagecoach Road just north of noted local piece was the timber beam for the the Clifton Barn. The building was abandoned Glen Elk Lodge on Elk Creek Road. in 1920 when State Highway 8 replaced the stage road. A second building was constructed along the new state highway and became one of the first Texaco locations in Colorado, contracted in 1921. The third and current building was built in 1958 when U.S. Highway 285 replaced State Highway 8. Long Bros’ Garage has stayed in the family for multiple generations. In 1964, Rudy’s son Wes moved his family from Denver to help his dad run the business. In 1990, Rudy’s grandson David took over management of Long Bros’ May and Rudy with 1957 Ford ambulance, circa 1960 Garage, and today’s business is managed by Author’s collection Rudy’s great-grandson, Bill. While the business’

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She received her first aid certificate in 1953 and her Red Cross certificate in 1956. Lovingly named “the Canyon Angel,” May also taught first aid classes through the fire department and 4-H. In 1956, Rudy and May started their ambulance service to meet the medical needs of the community, Harlan Long driving timber beam to Glen Elk, circa 1938 transporting patients to locations Author’s collection from Fairplay to Denver. Often for no charge, and averaging 175 calls a year, they operated the While Long Bros’ Garage was probably best service until 1978 when state laws became more known for their towing service, Rudy’s interest stringent, after which they decided to retire. didn’t stop there. He and his family had great concern for how to support and protect the community. The family donated land on the south side of U.S. Highway 285 to build the first Elk Creek Fire Station in 1948. This func- tioned as the volunteers’ location until the first fire department was relocated to its current site at Richmond Hill (in Conifer) in 1963. Rudy operated a 24-hour towing service as early as 1920, many times using tow trucks converted from other vehicles. Does anyone remember his Hupmobile? He used to tell stories about pulling vehicles up from or off extremely precarious locations using this unique machine. May and Rudy Long in uniform, circa 1960 Rudy was deputized by the Jeffco Sheriff’s -De Author’s collection partment in 1928 and was much regarded by the Colorado State Patrol for providing ambulance and towing services. Works Cited: Bentley, Margaret V. The Upper Side of the Pie Crust. Evergreen, Rudy’s wife, May, provided medical assistance Jefferson County Historical Society, 1985. to many, beginning with the towing service. Nelson, David P., Elk Creek Chronicles, ReVista Publishing, 2011.

Hupmobile tow truck, circa 1937 Author’s collection

Historically Jeffco 2020 17 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Mount Lindo: The Cross on the Mountain By Karen Land Cranford

nyone who has lived in Denver for even named it Monte Lindo, Spanish for beauti- a short time has no doubt seen the light- ful mountain. It eventually became known as ed cross which faces east from a moun- Mount Lindo and is now an undeveloped park Atain in Jefferson County’s southern foothills. As in Jeffco Open Space. with so many familiar landmarks in Jeffco, the By 1944, George was in partnership with Mount Lindo Cross, as it is known, boasts a daughter Gwendolyn’s husband, Francis S. Van fascinating history and claim to fame. Derbur. It was a good decision on both parts because Olinger Mortuaries was doing half of all burials in Denver by the 1950s. The 880 acres at Mount Lindo, however, was never as successful as George hoped it would be, so he sold the property to Francis. Soon after, in 1954, George died at age 72.

The Cross on Mount Lindo The Olinger Family Scott Land Photography The story of the Mount Lindo Cross began in 1890, when undertakers John and Emma Olinger, along with their 8-year-old son, George, moved from Santa Fe to Denver. The family opened a mortuary at Platte and 15th Streets, establishing what later became the Olinger funeral business empire. When John died in 1901, son George became his mother’s business partner. George had quit school at age 15 at Denver’s North High to help run the business. The next few decades saw great expansion for Olinger Mortuaries, but George also began developing residential subdivisions, including the 160-acre summer home commu- Mount Lindo Entrance nity in Jeffco’s Parmalee Gulch. He bought the Karen Cranford land in 1919 and began early development of the area, which was later named Indian Hills. One steel tower was sufficient to hold each of the 12 vertical stations, but two support towers were required George also bought mountain for each of the eight horizontal fixtures land for residential development Dwight Johnson about a mile southeast of Indian Gwendolyn and Francis continued what Hills. Native Americans origi- George started by acquiring other mortuary nally used the peak as a watch properties around Denver. The father of Francis point and signal station. George S. Van Derbur is Francis C. Van Derbur (note

18 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES the different middle initials). The father, Fran- cal calculations to find the best placement for cis C., always admired Mount Lindo’s beauty. the cross to be seen across the Denver area. He He told the younger Francis that he would like also needed to determine what kind of light- to be entombed on the mountain with his spot ing could accomplish this kind of visibility. marked by a cross. Ultimately, the creation’s 15,000 watts of sign lighting can easily be seen from miles around. Building the Mount Lindo Cross And the work paid off: Johnson took first place The younger Van Derbur contracted to build in the International Lighting Competition in a mausoleum on Mount Lindo in 1963, and 1965 in New York. the cross went up at the same time. Van Der- bur more than kept his promise to his dad as he ordered that the cross be large enough to Fun Fact be visible to his mother, Pearl, from her Den- In a nod to the lighted cross ver home. He wanted her always to be able to being widely regarded as a see where her husband was buried. Francis S. navigational landmark, one named the structure “Mausoleum of the Cross,” grave marker in the Mount and when Francis C. died in 1964, his body was Lindo Cemetery behind the Karen Cranford entombed there. cross bears the epitaph, “Oh look … there’s Denver.” The Mount Lindo Cross measures 393 feet long by 254 feet across and was first switched on on Keeping this beautiful structure lit has not been Easter night in 1964. Sitting at 7,660 feet above easy over the years. Chalupa says that during sea level, the cross is visible from 80 miles away. It the energy crisis of the 1980s windmills were quickly became a navigational marker for those employed to generate its electricity. In 2014, traveling across the eastern Colorado plains. the cross was victim to several lightning strikes Building the cross was not an easy task. There that took it out of commission. And area wild- are 20 light boxes attached to the mountain. life frequently chew on and damage the wires. According to John Chalupa, Area Manager for Management does its best to get the cross back Newcomer Funeral Homes and former General up, operational and shining as quickly as pos- Manager for Olinger, it is a challenge to main- sible through Gordon Signs which handles the tain the structure because the terrain beneath it maintenance. The cross is lit from dusk until is more vertical than horizontal. dawn, operating on a timer. The design for the cross was created by Dwight In 1988, a member of American Atheists tried Johnson, lighting engineer and former vice to have the cross extinguished permanently. Bill president for the Sturgeon Electric Company. Talley claimed it violated the county’s own sign Johnson says it took two months of mathemati- code because the property was zoned “agriculture,” and therefore the cross was larger than what that zoning allowed. County attorneys agreed—but community pushback was swift. Local newspapers were flooded with letters to the editor, and rallies and petitions showed strong support for the Mount Lindo Cross. After much consideration, Jefferson County Commissioners created zoning for “Landmark Signs.” If a sign has existed at the same location

Dwight Johnson, V.P. and lighting engineer for Sturgeon since 1969, is visible from a distance of three Electric Company, and designer of the cross stands by miles or more from a highway, possesses unique one of the fixture boxes during construction in 1964 physical characteristics, and is supported by a Dwight Johnson

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petition containing at least 100 signatures of The vistas from Mount Lindo are beauti- county residents, then it fits the zoning as a ful in all directions. Memorials to loved ones “landmark sign.” throughout the cemetery are highly creative, each one distinctly different from the next. Mount Lindo Cemetery Wind chimes provide an acoustic backdrop to While the Mount Lindo Cross can be seen far this tranquil scene, tucked behind the Mount and wide, there is an equally special site behind Lindo Cross—on the mountain! it. Shortly after the cross was lit, the land was sold to Olinger Mortuary, which created the Mount Lindo Cemetery. The cemetery’s three levels feature several mau- soleums and a variety of types of crypts. Appre- ciation for the natural setting is acknowledged George Olinger by sculptures of area wildlife, and panels are Indian Hills Improvement Association scattered throughout the scene inscribed with information about the native animals, trees, and plants. Chalupa says the cemetery hosts three to five services a week during summer months, most frequently for scattering cremated remains. The Rocky Mountain Cremation Estates, with each statue winding road leading to the top of the moun- representing a different estate tain can be precipitous at best, Chalupa says. Karen Cranford There are no guard rails and the road has been deliberately left as gravel, making it easier to Works Cited: traverse in icy conditions. The cemetery is open Bogacz, Jared. “The Olinger Funeral Empire,” 2012. Accessed 12/26/19. http://web.archive.org/web/20130227075543/http:// year round, but bad weather sometimes neces- jaredbogacz.com/historical-writing/olingerempire/ sitates postponing a service. Board of County Commissioners Meeting Minutes, 6/14/1988. Commission Minutes and Resolutions, Series 183, Jefferson County Archives. Brush, Helen N. and Catherine P. Dittman. Indian Hills: The Place, The Times, The People. C&D Printing, Inc. 1976. Cemeteries and Cemetery Symbols, “Colorado’s Mount Lindo Cross.” http://cemeteries.wordpress.com/2007/03/16/colorados- mount-lindo-cross Interviews with John Chalupa, 4/11/17, 3/17/19, 4/8/20. Denver Post, 3/1/88. Newspaper Clipping Files, Series No. 110, Jefferson County Archives. Find A Grave, “Mount Lindo Cemetery.” http://www.findagrave. com/cemetery/254333/mount-lindo-cemetery Jefferson County Historical Commission, “Mount Lindo.” Accessed March 2017. http://jeffco.us/placenames/search3. cfm?ps_old=220603&search= Interviews with Dwight J. Johnson, 5/5/20 and 6/17/20. KUSA Staff, “Plan Underway to Restore Mount Lindo Cross off Hwy 285,” 1/27/2015. https://www.9news.com/article/news/ local/features/plan-underway-to-restore-mount-lindo-cross-off- hwy-285/134408148 Lakewood/Jefferson Sentinel, 3/11/1988, 3/17/1988. Newspaper Clipping Files, Series No. 110. Jefferson County Archives. Mount Lindo cremation niches Rocky Mountain News, 3/10/1988. Newspaper Clipping Files, Karen Cranford Series No. 110, Jefferson County Archives.

20 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Stevinson Chevrolet Drives Local Automotive History By Richard Gardner, Jefferson County Historical Commission

n 2020, Stevinson Chevrolet—one of the In 1935, Ashton built a new dealership at the oldest automobile dealerships in Colora- northwest corner of 13th and Ford Streets. do—turned 90 years old. Now in the hands The sleek L-shaped, Art Deco-style complex Iof the second generation of the Stevinson fam- embraced an open court complete with gas ily, its roots run deep in the community with pumps serving Sinclair a legacy of companion dealerships going along gasoline, service bays, and for the ride. more. Ashton turned the previous location into an Oldsmobile agency called the Golden Automobile Company. On January 1, 1939, Fred Craig and Steve Frederick took over complete operation of Ashton’s Golden Advertisement for dealership, creating Craig-Frederick Chevrolet, Craig-Frederick and selling Texaco gasoline. A year later, Ashton Chevrolet in 1947 sold his Arvada location to Louis North Chev- The Prospector, Advertisement for Ashton Chevrolet in 1932 Colorado School of Mines The Prospector, Colorado School of Mines rolet, which two years after that was acquired by Craig-Frederick Chevrolet, thus becoming Early Days Jeffco’s only Chevrolet dealership. What is today Stevinson Chevrolet originally be- In 1946 the company proudly installed a large gan on Christmas Day of 1930, when Golden’s Art Deco neon clock overlooking the open Transcript newspaper announced that Arvada car court of its flagship dealership. The giant time- dealer Ralph Ashton was to open the new Ash- piece was encircled with the words “It is time to ton Chevrolet inside the historic Everett Block at buy a Chevrolet.” The Transcript noted: 1200 Washington Ave. in Golden. The business Timing, and the exact measurement of time, opened its doors on January 10, 1931, with the as symbolized by this newly installed clock at Craig-Frederick Chevrolet icon proudly painted on the landmark Chevrolet at 13th and the Craig-Frederick plant, is the first and most Ford Streets in 1950 building to showcase the new dealership. important part in the production and operation The Prospector, Ashton had begun in the automobile business of Chevrolet transportation. Colorado School of Mines in Arvada in 1919, and then opened the Ash- ton Motor Company on Wadsworth in 1922. Associated with him in Golden was J.H. Hop- kins, who previously was with Golden Motors, which ultimately became Golden Ford. Charles T. Frederick—known as Steve—moved from the Arvada dealership to become the original service department manager in Golden. Ashton himself moved to Golden and the dealership served western Jeffco while the Arvada dealership served the east. Fred Craig joined the firm in a dual role as bookkeeper and tire vulcanizer. The dealership sold 35 automobiles amidst the backdrop of the Great Depression.

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In 1972 Stevinson acquired Crest Motors in Littleton, which dealt in Toyota/Volvo and Jaguar/British Leyland. The new brand, Stevinson Imports, would delve into the Lo- tus make and ultimately would sell Porsche and Jaguar. At three franchises, this brought the company to the largest number of franchises it had yet known in 37 years of operation. In 1973 Stevinson Chevrolet moved Steve Frederick The handsome clock would remain an icon at to its fourth home, a large modern facility on Chevrolet in 1961 the corner for many years. This was not the the southeast corner of Colfax Avenue and Indi- The Prospector, Colorado School of Mines only splashy touch the proprietors made in the ana Street in Lakewood. It was now the biggest Golden community, for Steve Frederick also Chevrolet dealership in the Rocky Mountains, found time to be elected to Golden City Coun- larger than its previous three homes combined. cil in 1947 and then serve as Golden’s Mayor in In 1976 Stevinson relocated his Toyota dealer- 1948 and 1949. ship to Aurora, called Stevinson Toyota East W.W. “Red” White joined the company in 1952 and which would expand to 54,000 square feet as general manager and co-owner. In 1955, on 10 acres. Then in 1985, Stevinson Toyota White and Craig sold their shares of the enter- West was built on the site of the former Stanley prise to Steve Frederick, creating Steve Frederick Motel across the street from Stevinson Chevro- Chevrolet. The new business served Gulf gaso- let in Lakewood. line while Frederick ran another dealership in Second Generation of Stevinson Family Lakewood. In the 1980s Chuck Stevinson was diagnosed In 1960 Frederick moved his business to 1221 with cancer, at which time sons Greg and Kent Ford St. into a new, $100,000 steel building took the reins of the family enterprises, Greg of constructed by H.L. “Howdy” Eddleman. It the real estate (including successfully develop- featured 14,560 square feet of floor space with ing Denver West Office Park) and Kent of the the main entrance on Ford Street and the ser- automotive companies. vice entrance on 13th Street. When the new home opened in April 1960, the dealership was Among Kent Stevinson’s first moves was to staffed by 39 people and was selling 300 to 400 oversee Stevinson being selected in 1989 as cars a year. one of the first 60 dealers in America to sell Lexus, a new line of high-end cars. Opening The Stevinson Years Stevinson Lexus across Indiana Street from the In February 1962 Charles Edward Stevinson Chevrolet dealership and adjoining the Toyota of Kansas City and Warrensburg, MO bought dealership, the brand quickly grew into a lead- Steve Frederick Chevrolet, giving the new ing luxury automobile. dealership a grand opening in late February. In 1997 Stevinson acquired a historic establish- Chuck Stevinson proudly proclaimed it “the ment that dwarfed even Stevinson Chevrolet’s Charles T. “Steve” only Chevy dealer on Ford Street” and named venerable 67 years in operation. Golden Ford Frederick, as Mayor it Stevinson Chevrolet. of Golden had been put up for sale and Kent Stevinson Golden Transcript/ For the next several years Stevinson grew the thought it well to make the establishment’s life- Mile High Newspapers business while becoming convinced small cars long competitor part of their team, keeping its would soon be an enduring trend. Enamored historic name while adding their own. with fuel efficient imports, he investigated Golden Ford’s Long History brands seeking to expand to Colorado and opened Stevinson Toyota in 1970, a make vir- Stevinson’s Golden Ford was one of America’s tually unknown to the public. oldest transportation dealers, starting in July

22 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES

1879 when Civil War veteran Henry L. gave the already venerable establish- In July 2006 Stevinson Lexus of Fred- Wannamaker opened the Washington ment another transformation when it erick opened its doors, marking the Avenue Blacksmith Shop at 912 Wash- began selling automobiles, marking the first time Stevinson expanded outside ington Ave. The shop was built in the Maxwell brand. of the Denver metro area. classic style of the Old West, complete In 1917, the business was sold again, However, on April 1, 2007, Stevin- with a stepped false front. this time to L.P. Hayes of Idaho son’s Golden Ford closed its doors af- A case study in how a successful trans- Springs, who at the same time acquired ter a total of 127 years and 9 months portation company innovates with the the Ford franchise for Jefferson, Clear in operation, 90 of those years selling times, the blacksmith shop began by re- Creek and Gilpin counties. Known as Fords. Not unlike this venerable busi- pairing wagons. When Henry sold the Golden Motors, the dealership moved ness, innovating and changing with the business to his brother Zina in 1897, to 1301 19th St. in 1969. times, the Stevinsons also keep up with the shop began selling wagons, featur- By the time the business entered the the times, opening Stevinson Hyundai ing the Schuttler and Buffalo Dyke Stevinson realm in 1987, the business in Longmont in 2011, which in 2013 brands, Banner Buggies, and still later had been selling Fords for 80 years. moved to its newly expanded facility. becoming Jef- At the beginning of fco’s first Stude- 2020, the Stevinson baker dealer- automotive family ship. includes over 700 The next owner employees spread was German across dealerships master metal- of Chevrolet, Toy- worker Henry ota, Lexus, Scion Ohldag, who in and Hyundai. On 1908 took on the company web- two men who site President Kent were literally P. Stevinson states: blood broth- Stevinson Chevrolet, “The only Chevy dealer on Ford Street,” in 1960 My family built ers—Edward Stevinson Automotive Group our business on the and Arthur simple principle W. Blood. The of treating every brothers built a machine shop in the 21st Century Customer as if they were a guest in our rear to service automobiles, capturing st home, and delivering a little more than a brand new segment of personal trans- The 21 Century brought a bold new frontier for Stevinson, beginning in expected. The same principles Chuck portation. In this era car owners need- Stevinson founded our business upon in ed a blacksmith’s skill and flexibility 2004 when Stevinson Toyota West moved into its great new home at West 1962 are still what guide us today; we to fix automobiles as many were cus- remain committed to these ideals because tom made, running on differentfuels 6th Avenue and Indiana Street. It was now 110,000 square feet, standing on they are an integral part of our family including gasoline, kerosene, alcohol, business history and have formed the and steam. 15 acres with 64 service bays. That year the Stevinson family also welcome their foundation of our family’s success. In 1913 the company split, with 7th and 8th dealerships: Stevinson Sci- Ohldag continuing as a blacksmith un- on East in Aurora and Stevinson Scion Works Cited: til his 1942 retirement and the Blood West in Lakewood, selling Toyota’s new Colorado Transcript, 12/25/1930, 4/23/1936, Bros. partnering with Earl S. Ball to youth-oriented car. 12/29/1938, 5/21/1942, 2/14/1946, 9/25/1947, transform the defunct First Christian 1/15/1948, 10/6/1955, 1/7/1960, 4/14/1960, Stevinson Chevrolet in 2005 moved 1/18/1962, 2/22/1962. Church at the northwest corner of “The History of Stevinson Automotive,” from https:// 11th and Washington Streets into the to its 5th home, the newly renovated www.stevinsonauto.com/StevinsonHistory, accessed Golden Garage, a state-of-the-art auto former Toyota home, featuring 91,000 2014 and 2020. repair business. square feet with 51 service bays on 17 “Extended History of the Stevinson Automobile acres—22.75 times more square feet Dealerships,” unpublished research manuscript Then in 1915 new owners Charles J. provided by Richard Gardner to Greg Stevinson, 2014. with 50 more service bays on nearly 9 Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. Buckman and William George Duvall times the acreage of its original home.

Historically Jeffco 2020 23 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Green Gold Sowed in Golden By Richard Gardner, Jefferson County Historical Commission

n May 1, 1859, the age of agricul- Among those who noticed this abundance of ture began for Jefferson County and produce was John Hamilton Gregory of nearby for Colorado when David King Wall Arapahoe City, who Wall grubstaked before plantedO seeds he had brought from Indiana into sprouts were even up, meaning he promised Golden’s rich, fertile soil. Gregory food in exchange for a portion of what- Arriving with his gold prospecting party from ever gold he might find searching for the mother South Bend, Wall set his sights not on what lode in the hills. The many miners and trades- was in the ground but what would grow men whose tents soon dotted the valley noticed from it: fresh fruits and vegetables. Us- too, and on June 16, 1859 Wall became a founding methods he learned from Fran- er of the city of Golden and, as the first perma- ciscan friars during the California nent resident of the valley, Golden’s first citizen. Gold Rush, Wall dug a ditch from As the only person selling fresh produce for Tucker Gulch across the fertile hundreds of miles around, Wall sold his crops Clear Creek bottom land to where for fabulous prices, making $1,500 for his 1859 today’s railyards at Depot Street season on his plot of less than three-fourths of sit. There he began planting some an acre. The equivalent of over $42,000 today, of his wagonload of seeds, creating he made more money than most gold seekers, the region’s first garden and farm. comparable to a good crop of industrial hemp While the Long Expedition 39 years in Colorado today which could make before had labeled the region “the $60,000 an acre. Wall’s Great American Desert,” by summer good fortune had only begun, as Gregory David King Wall, Wall’s efforts were noticed by the Rocky Moun- pioneer farmer, Golden’s tain News and the word was out: made the fabulous first citizen and Jefferson gold strike that gave County Commissioner We called at the Ranch of D.K. Wall & Co., rise to the mines of Gil- Jefferson County Golden City, the other day, and was astonished pin County and helped to find a garden that will put the gold rush into full compare with anything boom. of the kind we have seen in the States. Peas, beans, By winter Wall’s brother onions, squashes, cucum- John joined him and bers, beets, etc., ready to the two built Colorado’s gather, a sack of which first produce grocery was ushered to the News in where the Golden Visi- tors Center now stands Dave’s usual philanthropic 1859 illustration showing curving styles, which “all hands” course of Wall’s irrigation ditch through (1010 Washington Ave.). pronounced the first and the market garden, taken from larger The next season the Wall finest of the season. A large illustration of city of Golden brothers dramatically ex- plat of melons, and ever- Public Domain panded their garden farm green sweet corn will soon to 20 acres, taking in the be ready for delivery, and we doubt not but the bottomlands to within miners will appreciate the endeavors of Messrs. 30 feet of the river and even onto the bench- Wall & Co., to prepare for them so luscious a land overlooking the original Wall Garden. treat at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

24 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES

According to the Rocky Mountain News, the Wall David Wall never planted the garden again. In Garden’s irrigation now was more complex and 1861 he was elected among the original three included laterals, stating, elected Jefferson County Commissioners. It is irrigated by turning a small stream, When he returned to South Bend a few years that comes down from the north and later, his farmland went on to play a part in conducting it along above the garden, another significant industry, becoming the rai- through which the water lyards of the Colorado Central—the first rail- is distributed by small road into the Colorado mountains. trenches or plow furrows. However, by the 1870s Wall again returned The Western Mountain- West, this time to Denver. He was now a Stude- eer described the Wall farm baker dealer and served as the Colorado agent as being “like an eastern mar- of the wagon-making company of South Bend. ket garden,” employing growing He continued to live successfully in this and methods such as “hot beds,” a other ventures, including the development of Victorian method of growing cer- Studebaker into automobiles. tain crops in wooden temperature- David Wall died in 1909. His legacy lives on in controlled enclosures. The Wall brothers greatly the vast acres of bountiful farmland throughout expanded their crop offerings, including wheat, Colorado. Today the city of Golden has pur- which others who sought to plant along Clear chased most of the lands of what was once the Creek quickly noticed, giving rise to today’s Wall brothers’ extended farm, as part of the cre- Wheat Ridge. ation of a new civic center, thus continuing the legacy of the community Wall helped create. The Wall Building that sold the fresh produce Works Cited: of the Wall brothers, as it Henrietta E. Bromwell, Fiftyniners’ Directory, Colorado Argonauts of appeared in 1874 1858-1859, Denver, CO, 1926. Gardner Family Collection Colorado Transcript, 4/11/1877, 2/15/1893, 8/1/1900, 6/18/1903, 3/26/1908. Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. Unfortunately, John did not live to see the many Jefferson County Commissioners records, 1861. fruits of his labor, for he died unexpectedly on Rocky Mountain News, 6/18/1859, 7/23/1859, 5/23/1860, 10/13/1860. July 1, 1860, at age 26 after only a week’s ill- Western Mountaineer, 12/28/1859, 6/28/1860, 7/5/1860, ness. David sealed his body in a tin coffin inside 7/12/1860, 9/13/1860, 10/18/1860, 11/7/1860. a specially built stone crypt in the bluff over- Vegetable and fruit illustrations and Watercolor vector looking their garden until he could return to designed by Freepik: www.freepik.com/ South Bend at the end of the season.

Fun Fact Wall Garden’s Crops 1859 Season: Beans, Beets, Evergreen Sweet Corn, Cucumbers, Flowers, Onions, Peas, Squashes, Watermelons 1860 Season: Barley, Beans, Cabbage, Evergreen Sweet Corn, Flowers, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Sweet Potatoes, Radishes, Rhu- barb (Pie Plant), Strawberries, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watermelons, Wheat

Historically Jeffco 2020 25 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES A Legacy in the Baking at Rheinländer Bakery By John Steinle, Jefferson County Historical Commission

hen strolling along Olde Wadsworth Boulevard The years went by and the boys grew up, and Jakob and in Olde Towne Arvada, the mouth-watering Katherina were getting ready to retire. The name Dimmer’s fragrance of delicious baked goods floats out Home Bakery, by then a well-known bread brand, was sold, Wthe open door of the Rheinländer Bakery. having evolved over the years into a wholesale bread brand. It is almost impossible not to peek The retail bakery at 5721 Olde Wad- inside and admire the display cases Rheinländer Bakery through sworth became Rheinländer Bakery, a filled with all manner of delectable the years name Jakob chose to reflect the heri- German-style baked goods. You will tage of the Dimmer family. Rheinlän- also see signs celebrating the bakery’s der Bakery is now a second-generation half-century mark in 2013, making business owned by Edward and his it a legacy business. The enthusiastic wife Maro Dimmer. employees are happy to tell visitors the After graduating college—first story of how the bakery came to be. studying chemistry then ending In 1956 Katharina and Jacob Dim- with a business degree—“Baker Ed,” mer arrived in America as immi- as he is lovingly known, took the grants from the western part of Ger- 1910s helm of the bakery. His wife Maro many near the Luxembourg border. also worked in the business after col- Like many Germans, Katharina had lege, where she had studied journal- sometimes worked in Luxembourg ism and political science. and so the family’s cooking and bak- Over the years Ed and Maro have ing bore both German and French adapted many traditional recipes to influences. German culture is quite accommodate changing attitudes to- prominent in Luxembourg, and Ger- ward what constitutes healthy food. man is one of that country’s official Ed’s chemistry background has served languages along with French and the 1919 him well in developing the new reci- native Luxembourgish. pes. The bakery currently offers glu- After at first spending time in Chi- ten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free cago, the Dimmers moved to Colo- types of baked goods. But the basis of rado to pursue their American dream Rheinländer’s business remains tradi- of running their own business. In tional German strudel, streuselkuchen 1963 they bought the building that and multi-layered torte cakes. had housed the Arvada Bakery. The The displays of specially decorated building offered the Dimmers their cakes and cupcakes are irresistible. ideal European family business, with Now Ed and Maro are planning to 1950s the store at street level and living retire and hand the business over to quarters upstairs. longtime employee and family friends A new business was born called Dimmer’s Home Bakery. Loren Naftz and her family, who will continue to follow the The Dimmers’ German rye bread and their European cakes Rheinländer tradition into the future while adapting to the became an Arvada tradition. The business involved the world’s changing food scene. whole family including twin sons, Edward and Andrew, Works Cited: who started working in the bakery at about age nine. Interviews with Rheinländer employees, 2/12/2020. Letter from Maro Dimmer, 5/10/2020. YourHub. Sabine Hoff, “The Business of Baking: Rheinlander Bakery,” 4/11/2018. Rheinländer Bakery Facebook Page and Web Site.

26 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Jeffco’s Carnation Gold Rush By Deborah Darnell, with Bonnie Scudder, Jefferson County Historical Commission

hile the term Carnation Gold Rush ers in white or pale pink. Baby’s breath is com- might evoke an image of a dazzling monly used as filler for flower bouquets, either field of yellow flowers to some, it fresh or dried. Win fact refers to the decades covering the 1880s In the November-December 1929 issue of through the 1930s when the floricul- the City of Denver’s Municipal Facts, tural industry developed and an article about the success of thrived in Colorado, includ- growing baby’s breath in ing Jefferson County. Denver declared: During the 1859 Colo- Baby’s Breath, for com- rado Gold Rush, cit- mercial use in the U.S., ies like Wheat Ridge can only be grown in served as rest stops for Denver. The reason for hopeful miners headed this is that our climatic to Colorado’s mountain conditions are favorable to gold camps. When many its curing [drying] and as men returned empty hand- a result we ship it to every ed and unemployed, they state in the Union. One hun- turned to farming, growing dred and fifty thousand bunches fruits and vegetables and, decades Bouquet of pink carnations or 1,000 car loads of Baby’s later, flowers. and gypsophila, 2020 Breath leave Denver every The success of agriculture in Jack Darnell year. We also ship it to Cana- Jeffco began in earnest in da—This phase of the horticul- 1872, when a newly built tural industry alone has proved canal system brought water Fun Fact extremely profitable. from the Platte River Can- Both baby’s breath and The Wilmore and yon to irrigate the area’s carnations are members Davis Families rich, fertile soil. Colorado’s of the Pink family of plants Many residents of early Jeffer- dry climate coupled with (Caryophyllaceae). The son County were extensively its abundant sunshine and botanical name of baby’s involved in Colorado’s carna- cool evenings was found to breath is Gypsophila, meaning “gypsum-loving,” tion and floral growing indus- be ideal for growing certain because it thrives in calcium- try, including the Wilmore food crops and flowers, es- rich soil. Such soil is found and Davis families. pecially carnations. In fact, in the steppes of central and The Wilmore Family in 1928 alone, some 12 eastern Europe, the plant’s million carnation blooms native habitat. Thus, it is no William Wallace Wilmore were produced in Colorado surprise that it grows so well Sr. (1861-1950) was a child which was dubbed The Car- on Colorado’s Front Range, when he arrived in Colorado. nation State. which is also a steppe: a cold, His family farmed on land off semi-arid area on the leeward West 26th Avenue in Wheat Colorado was also an im- side of a mountain range, in Ridge, growing and selling portant state for producing this case, the Rockies. other cool-climate flora, such vegetables, wheat, and oats. as roses, cyclamen (a type of As a young man, Wilmore, hardy perennial) and baby’s breath, a bushy known as W.W., began selling produce in Den- plant whose long slender stems bear small flow- ver from a horse-drawn wagon. He soon added

Historically Jeffco 2020 27 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES

flowers, including the dahlias he late 1880s, R.T. and his wife Anna moved to grew in the front yard of his home. Colorado, where R.T. worked as a brick layer. The flower sales were a great suc- The couple had three sons—Rees T. Jr., John, cess. Years later, W.W. would say: and Leslie. It is my steadfast belief that I was By 1910, R.T. Sr. and R.T. Jr. were cultivating the first person to peddle flowers in flowers in the fields of Wheat Ridge, shipping the city of Denver; for as yet, there gladioli to eastern markets. In 1920, R.T Jr. was not a flower store in operation started building greenhouses at 37th Avenue in Denver; nor for quite a number and Jay Streets. Around that same year, Davis of years yet to come. Brothers Florists was established at 38th Avenue In 1885, W.W. purchased 10 acres and Wadsworth Boulevard in Wheat Ridge. at 38th Avenue and Wadsworth Jointly owned by the three brothers, the family Boulevard, where he raised his fam- business thrived for 55 years. ily and established W.W. Wilmore According to Robert “Bob” Briggs (former W.W. Wilmore with customers in his Nursery. His floriculture business JCHC member and 2017 Jeffco Hall of Fame dahlia garden, circa 1920 thrived for many decades, in large recipient), his family’s floral business, Briggs Wilmorenurseries.com part because of his decision to spe- Carnations, sold the flowers they grew to Da- cialize in dahlias, which became his passion and vis Brothers Florists throughout the 1960s; legacy. Wilmore published the first dahlia cata- both the Wilmores and the Echters (of Echter’s log in the U.S. in 1893, followed by The Dahlia Nursery and Garden Center in Arvada) also Manual, A Treatise on Dahlia Culture in 1907. sold to Davis Brothers Florists. When Wilmore retired, his sons Scott and Wilmore-Davis Connection Charles bought the business; Charles later sold In 1910, the Wilmore and Davis families his interest to Scott. In 1957, Scott and Ruth formed a bond that went beyond business, Wilmore hired Steve Driftmier as general man- when R.T. Jr. married W.W.’s daughter Lucy. ager of the Wilmore Garden Center. In 1972, the Their son, Melrose, and his wife Mildred had Wilmores retired and sold the business to Drift- three sons: Ronald, and identical twins Kent mier, who chose to keep the Wilmore name. and Keith. Ronald worked with the growers W.W. Wilmore was an active member of the and has served as the “family historian;” Kent Wheat Ridge community; he served on the was “an integral part of his family’s carnation- school board and on the board of the Colorado growing business;” and Keith—who drove the Humane Society (for 48 years!). He was induct- flower truck long ago—was the accountant. ed into the JCHC Hall of Fame in 1985. For both families, these floral businesses were Today, the Wilmore Outdoor enterprises that involved everyone, even the Living Center (now in Littleton wives and children (who would help in the and owned by descendants of store by making corsages for special occasions), Driftmier) enjoys its 134th year over a total of five generations. In addition to of continual service. A wide va- the nurseries in Wheat Ridge, both families ran riety of shrubs, trees, perennials, floral wholesale operations in Brighton. annuals are sold there—includ- Davis Family Ranch ing carnations and baby’s breath. In 1934, R.T. Jr. and Lucy Davis bought ranch The Davis Family R.T. & Lucy Davis with twin property in Pine near Shaffer’s Crossing, where grandsons Keith & Kent at Davis In the 1870s, Rees Tillman they built a ranch house, two smaller houses, Ranch, circa 1940 (R.T.) Davis Sr. (1863-1928) two large barns, and several out-buildings. A Scudder Collection from Davis family emigrated with his parents from large brown barn was built in the mid-1930s. Wales to Pennsylvania. By the According to Keith and Judi Davis, current

28 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES

Davis Brothers Florists business by naming the store’s former location as Founders’ Park, an oasis of natural open space with walking trails and a small picnic pavilion. Each year since 1969, Wheat Ridge—former Carnation Capital of the World—celebrates its city’s floriculture history with a Carnation Festival in August. The event is planned in part by the Davis Barn, used for drying gypsophila, 2012 Wheat Ridge Historical So- Scudder Collection ciety, whose members have included Don and Charlotte Whetsel, former caretakers of owners of the Davis Ranch, R.T. Jr. would the Davis Ranch in Pine. transport the baby’s breath plants from the family’s Wheat Ridge greenhouses to the ranch to And the brown barn across from the entrance dry (or cure) in the spacious brown barn. to Staunton State Park, which once was used to dry bushels of baby’s breath, now houses The Davis family raised Angus cattle and records and artifacts from both the Davis and Clydesdale horses on their 1,000-acre ranch. In Wilmore flower businesses. 1999, the family sold about 900 acres of the property to the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife for the development of Staunton Works Cited: Bone, Michael, Don Johnson, Panayoti Kelaidis, Mike Kintgen and Larry G. Vickerman. Steppes: The State Park. Keith and Judi Davis still own the Plants and Ecology of the World’s Semi-arid Regions. Timber Press, 2015. ranch buildings and approximately 100 acres City of Denver’s Municipal Facts, Vol. 12, November-December, 1929. https://www.history. on the west side of Elk Creek Road. denverlibrary.org/research--tool-Denver-municipal-facts. Liu, Shu and Linda M. Meyer, Carnations and the Floriculture Industry: Documenting the Cultivation and Marketing of Flowers in Colorado, 2007. https://mountainscholar.org/ bitstream/handle/10217/5199/carnation-Liu-Meyer. Kingman, Dick. A History: Colorado Flower Growers and Its People, Colorado Greenhouse Growers Association, manuscript. 1986. Obituary: Kent O. Davis 1937-2018. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/kent-davis- obituary?pid=187791471 Interviews of Bob Briggs and Judi Davis by Bonnie Scudder, April 2020. Scudder, Bonnie E. The Secrets of Elk Creek: Shaffer’s Crossing, Staunton State Park, and Beyond. Pine, CO, Elk Creek Publishing, 2013. U.S. City Directory for Jefferson County, Colorado, 1932. https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2469/42748_334392- 00046/1501011748 Weber, William A. and Ronald C. Wittmann. Colorado Flora Eastern Slope. University Press of Colorado. 4th edition, 2012. https://www.jeffco.us/DocumentCenter/View/9489/Historical-Commission-Hall-Of-Fame- Honorees?bidId Wilmore-Davis Elementary School, 2020 https://www.ci.wheatridge.co.us/520/About-Wheat-Ridge Jack Darnell Wilmore Outdoor Living Center. http://wilmorenurseries.com/ Wilmore-Davis Elementary School. https://wilmoredavis.jeffcopublicschools.org/ The Wilmore-Davis Legacies 1880 and 1900 United States Federal Census, Colorado. https://www.ancestry.com/ interactive/6742/4240003-00145/20091133?backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/ A school in Wheat Ridge built in 1954 is person/tree/77471284/person/38362370872/facts named Wilmore-Davis Elementary, in honor https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7602/4118998_00155/36819374?backurl=https://www. of these two pioneering nursery families. Later, ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/77471284/person/38362370872/facts WWI Draft registration for Rees Tillman Davis, Jr. the City of Wheat Ridge chose to honor the

Historically Jeffco 2020 29 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES Foss Company: “Meet Your Friends at Foss!” By Richard Gardner, Jefferson County Historical Commission

or over a century a beloved fixture of down- retail consignment of Coors Malted Milk in town Golden has been the Foss Company, February 1916. Coors created this product to a place that has taken on many forms and survive the newly implemented Prohibition in whoseF proprietors have had a significant civic in- Colorado, which Foss itself was able to avoid by fluence on the community. continuing to sell liquor under its pharmaceuti- The Foss Company has endured two World cal liquor license. People in the know couldn’t Wars, two pandemics, and the Great Depression help but notice some “prescriptions” included all while holding the unique distinction of hav- 200 proof bourbon! ing legally sold alcohol without interruption for over a century. Today the company continues in the third generation of the Foss family who up- holds its proud and colorful legacy. First 10 Years The first Foss store opened in 1903 inside the Linder Block at 1219 Washington Ave., across the street from the store’s current location. While the first 10 years of the store’s existence saw a revolving door of proprietors and seven (!) name changes, it was always a drugstore/pharmacy, many times featuring a soda fountain too. The Foss Building as it originally appeared in the 1910s Then, in April 1913, Nicholas Koenig, owner of Gardner Family Collection the mercantile inside today’s Old Capital Grill at 12th Street and Washington Avenue, hired con- Pandemic I tractor H.W. Axtell to build a new 1,300 square However, Heinie’s proprietorship was tragically foot Mission Revival style brick storefront as a cut short when he died in December 1918, a vic- speculative venture at 1224 Washington Ave. tim of the global influenza pandemic. His dying Henry Langenhan, who in 1909 had bought the wish was for his wife Dorothy to keep the store first drugstore at 1219 Washington Ave., nam- alive for their 1-year-old son, Frederick Allen ing it Langenhan’s Drug Store, acquired the new Foss, affectionately known as little Heinie. Dor- building and moved his drugstore there on July othy took over immediately and the Foss store 1, 1913. Unfortunately, he didn’t get long to en- continued in the able hands of the pharmacist joy it, as he died of a stroke in September. His already in charge. wife Evelyn took over the store to become its first Dorothy Agnes Allen Foss not only kept Foss female proprietor, although only for one month Drug going but became one of the most ac- when she sold it to Henry J. “Heinie” Foss. complished business owners in Golden’s history. The Foss Company Begins Within a year of Heinie’s death she had an addition built on to the property. In 1920, Foss Drug The genial Foss, a native of Earling, Iowa, who began its second outside affiliation, becoming a had operated drugstores at four other Colorado Henry J. “Heinie” Foss, Rexall drugstore. A second addition was built towns, prospered and was well-liked by the peo- original proprietor of the following year, and in 1922, Foss Perfection ple of Golden. His arrival marked a changing of Foss Drug Company, Ice Cream was introduced. Foss Drug took on from 1913-1918 the guard when he bought out Golden’s pioneer another companion business in 1925 when the Foss Family Collection drugstore of Dr. James Kelly in 1914, a store es- Golden Beauty Parlor moved in to become Foss tablished in 1864 and a long-standing mainstay Beauty Parlor. of the community. In 1920, Dorothy Foss married Joseph Francis In a sign of great things to come, Foss got in on O’Byrne, the Colorado School of Mines profes- the ground floor of a future famous American sor who in 1908 had designed the big M atop product when the store received the very first Mt. Zion which overlooks Golden. However, 30 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES

O’Byrne died in 1927 and Dorothy was wid- mother in running the store. In 1937 owed again. At one point she mortgaged her Heinie Foss took over proprietorship wedding rings to meet payroll. of the Foss Drug Company, fulfilling Growing the Foss Empire his father’s wish. His mother continued as vice president and dreamed of a In July 1928 a second Foss Drug came into be- restaurant in the store’s future. ing when Dorothy Foss O’Byrne and Albert Ed- ward “Pastie” Richards purchased the McBride On June 25, 1941, after completing a Corner Drug Store at Idaho Springs, which be- third addition, Foss Drug held a grand came Foss Drug, with Richards as store manager. reopening, boasting a sleek Art Deco storefront with black Carrera glass and That same year, Foss Drug in Golden took on a red neon sign on the outside and a another companion business, Tierney Jewelry. new soda fountain on the inside. The This store had been founded in Golden in 1902 renovation was done under direction by Gordon L. Muffley, then moved to Denver in of Heinie Foss. Soon after, however, 1918. But 10 years later, James Tierney returned Heinie was called away when the U.S. to Golden and moved Tierney Jewelry inside entered World War II. Art Deco style Foss Foss Drug. In 1931, when its original quarters Building with black at 1206 Washington Ave. became available, the Foss joined the Army Air Corps in March 1942, carrara glass and jewelry store got to go home for good, where it where his flight instructor was Barbara Flem- neon lights, newly continues to operate today as Creekside Jewelers. ing, a skilled pilot who Heinie always said was renovated in 1941 his better in flying. Heinie earned his wings on Gardner Family Collection The next significant business activity occurred in February 6, 1943 and was commissioned as a October 1931, when Dorothy sold her interest 2nd Lieutenant, while Barbara in 1944 became in Foss Drug in Idaho Springs to Albert Heller, a member of the sixth class of Women Airforce who became Richards’ partner in the business. Service Pilots. On January 10, 1945 the two were united in Golden’s first marriage of military service members in its history. At the end of the war, now 1st Lieutenant Heinie Foss returned to Golden with his unique war bride. Post-War Years Once back at the reins Heinie Foss took the drugstore onward at a breathtaking pace. In July 1946 its appliance department was spun off as the Foss Appliance Shoppe at 1118 Washington Ave., which he and Barbara ran until selling to Charles T. “Steve” Frederick, the mayor of Gold- Foss Drug in 1937 with proprietors Heinie Foss and his mother Dorothy Foss O’Byrne standing at soda en, in January 1948. Foss himself was elected to fountain register at right Golden City Council on November 4, 1947, nd Gardner Family Collection representing the 2 Ward. However, exactly a year later Foss resigned because he was moving Wedding of Heinie Foss In 1935 Dorothy Foss O’Byrne made a mo- just outside Golden to the historic Larson Ranch and Barbara Fleming on mentous business decision when she had Foss that he and Barbara made their own. January 10, 1945 become a Walgreen Agency. In the Walgreen When Safeway moved out of the neighboring Foss Family Collection system, independent drugstores could become Pearson Building, Foss took over its space, in- an agency in the organization, giving small town stantly tripling its size and making Foss Drug the independents access to the Walgreen distribution largest Walgreen Agency in the west and second network, products, and retailing expertise, while largest in America. In 1952 Foss began using Walgreens received a share of the profits. This af- its friendly slogan of many years, “Meet Your filiation enabled Foss to greatly expand its offer- Friends At Foss.” Heinie Foss became promi- ings affordably. nent in broader business activities, being elected Even more momentously the young Heinie Foss president of the Golden Chamber of Commerce graduated Golden High School and began study in 1959 and to the board of Lakeside National at the Denver School of Pharmacy and joined his Bank in 1961. In 1959 the Foss Toy Discount

Historically Jeffco 2020 31 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES

Store opened in the onetime Tramway Depot workmanship, gaining a reputation as the “Tif- building that Foss had acquired on 13th Street at fany’s” of the industry. At her ranch studio, Bar- what is now known as Miner’s Alley. bara Foss sculpted many of the designs including In 1961, in a great expansion that took over nine its renowned American Indian dancers. months to complete, Foss became Foss Drug Around that time, the Golden Theatre at nearby General Store, expanding to 23,000 square feet 1301 Washington St. closed its doors (following and designed in contemporary Western style fea- a brief stint as an X-rated movie house). Heinie turing both native flagstone and board and bat- and Barbara Foss purchased the old cinema and ten siding, and wood canopies, much of it still reopened it to show nostalgic films in 1972. That there today. Featured on the partial second floor year the Golden Squire, annexed in 1968 by the at its southwest side was the Foss Carriage Room Cottrell’s chain, moved to the newly built Arap- restaurant, realizing Dorothy’s longtime dream. ahoe Plaza a block west while Foss annexed its Dorothy herself proudly waited tables there building. In November 1973 Foss General Store while daily wearing a fresh white carnation given unveiled its vast store, now spread across three to her by her son. She continued there until her floors with six pharmacists and liquor, photo, death in 1964, after a half century of business and cosmetics departments. leadership in Golden’s history. In 1983 the Walgreen System was disbanded and In May 1965 Foss affiliated with Associated Gro- the newly independent Foss store rebranded its cers to boost its own merchandising, becoming restaurant the Golden Ram. Heinie Foss pur- the second non-grocery affiliate in Colorado chased the historic Everett Block (at 12th Street) (only to Skaggs in Denver) and one of the few after a central wall collapse threatened its destruc- in the country. tion. He restored it to its Victorian glory and in Meanwhile Heinie acquired the Golden Squire 1984 opened his second men’s clothing store in- men’s clothing store next door to the north in side, named H.J. Foss after his father. In 1987 June 1965, which had been Foss expanded into the southernmost storefront opened by Art Glenn the pri- of the neighboring Opera House Block, moving or year in the Hertel Build- its pharmacy and liquor cooler inside. ing. Foss renamed the haber- Final Years dashery Foss Golden Squire In 1993 Foss unified the appearance of its store and bought the building in buildings by renovating its amalgamated build- September 1966. ing into a grand Mission Revival design created That year Foss Ranch (for- by Mark Oatis and built by Marshall-Thomas, mally known as Table drawing on the original store. The next year a Mountain Ranch) also came mural stretching across the south wall was paint- Family out at the Foss to the front, raising prized Arabian horses, one ed by Robert Dafford, featuring many scenes ranch with one of their registered Polled Hereford of which, a filly named Deefos, placed well in from Golden’s past including a central panel cattle in the 1950s her classes at the National Western Stock Show. showing Washington Avenue and Foss Drug in Foss Family Collection Years later, Table Mountain Ranch officially -be 1913. Also in 1994, Foss ceased producing the came the Mesa Meadows Land Company that art decanters in the Ski Country collection. operates to this day. In 2001, Barbara Foss died at age 80, the Golden The 1970s and Beyond Ram closed, and Foss sold off the Ski Country In 1970 the Golden Civic Foundation was cre- decanter brand. ated with Heinie Foss sitting on its founding board of directors, which has since contributed to many community projects in Golden. Ski Country Barrel Racer decanter designed by At the end of 1971 Foss liquor, which had in- Barbara Foss and created troduced a house brand called Ski Country, be- by a special team of gan releasing unique porcelain art decanters. Ski artists in 1982 Country decanters immediately became sought Gardner Family Collection after for their high quality artistry and intricate

32 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES

On September 1, 2007 Foss General Store most- State and County authorities placed an even ly closed and to most public appearances it ap- stronger ban in Golden than those in 1918, peared Foss was no more. This was not the case, closing what were deemed “nonessential” busi- however, as its liquor portion had been acquired nesses, and Foss continued to operate in a de- by Brittany DeCarlo and the store continued as serted downtown. Foss Building Wine & Spirits, never closing for Then at around 2:30 p.m. on March 23 Den- a day as DeCarlo and her dog Bella welcomed ver Mayor Michael Hancock announced Denver customers. The store occupied the Hertel section would be closing its liquor stores as nonessential of the complex while the balance was leased to businesses. This would create the reality of mak- new tenants. ing Denver the driest it had been since Prohibi- On May 21, 2015 Heinie Foss died at age 97, tion, as the bars were already closed and, without still chairman of the board of Foss companies, hard liquor available at groceries under state law, making him at 70 years the longest business pro- no viable options for obtaining liquor of any sig- prietor in Golden’s history. nificant quantity would exist. On December 31, 2017 the Foss store ceased ac- This caused a stampede of customers to liquor tive operation and appeared to the public to now stores in numbers capable of immediately endan- be truly gone for good. But once again this was gering public health. Although Foss is in Jefferson not so, for its historic liquor license—now one County, the general pattern is for Jeffco to soon of the few if not the only in America to legally follow whatever Denver implements, and so som- sell liquor for over a century without interrup- ber Foss proprietors found themselves serving a mighty influx of the public coming in to buy. tion—had been reacquired by the Foss family. The Opera House Block storefront was de-an- I happened to have witnessed the event, ironi- nexed and its own storefront renovated, and on cally showing up during the only lull in activity October 1, 2018 the historic Foss store rebooted where I somehow found myself being the only once again as the Foss Company, a boutique li- customer of the moment, to be told the tale by quor store owned by the third generation of the shell-shocked employees. The Foss manager said family, Pat Foss. It was run by Brendan Russell that “it was total madness,” with people “looking and Eric Schapiro, assisted by their four-legged to buy any bottle with alcohol in it.” staffers Earl and Taco. But at around 5:00 p.m. Mayor Hancock re- versed his order and allowed the liquor stores to remain open as essential businesses. Thus, Foss uniquely survived what has become known as the 2-½ Hour Prohibition, remaining open for business just as it had during the pandemic and Prohibition of the previous century. Today the Foss Company continues to serve customers with renewed energy, moving onward with a legacy of endurance, ingenuity, and service to carry it well into the future.

Works Cited: Colorado Transcript, 4/24/1913, 10/13/1913, 10/29/1914, 2/24/1916, 12/12/1918, 12/26/1918, Able and eager to serve, Foss “staff” Taco and Earl join 10/16/1919, 9/30/1920, 7/27/1922, 7/30/1925, 12/29/1927, 7/26/1928, 8/23/1928, 1/8/1931, Foss Company co-owner Eric Shapiro on reopening 10/29/1931, 10/24/1935, 11/21/1935, 5/13/1937, 7/1/1937, 6/19/1941, 2/18/1943, 2/1/1945, day, 2018 7/25/1946, 11/6/1947, 1/15/1948, 11/11/1948, 7/5/1951, 7/12/1951, 4/9/1959, 10/29/1959, Gardner Family Collection 1/19/1961, 11/30/1961, 10/1/1964, 5/6/1965, 1/27/1966, 9/26/1966, 11/19/1968, 5/21/1970, 1/13/1972, 11/28/1973. Pandemic II Denver Post, 5/24/2015. Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. After running successfully in this new arrange- E-mail communication between the author and Pat Foss, 4/2/2018. ment, a second global pandemic fell upon Foss Interviews with Pat Foss, 2017-2020. in March 2020—the novel coronavirus known Interview with Foss Company employees, 3/23/2020. as COVID-19. Jefferson County property records. Author’s note: Many facts, dates and events of this article were witnessed by the author and documented at or near the time of their occurrence.

Historically Jeffco 2020 33 PREMIER LEGACY BUSINESSES Brewing an Empire in Golden By John Steinle, Jefferson County Historical Commission

wenty-one-year-old Adolph Kohrs ing brewing cities in the East, closely followed stepped ashore in Baltimore early in by Chicago and the cities of the “German Tri- 1868, a penniless orphan and an il- angle”—Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Milwaukee. legalT stowaway on the ship that had brought In 1871 Cincinnati alone boasted of 34 brewer- him from Germany. Adolph was one tiny drop ies producing 400,000 barrels of beer annually. in the massive wave of immigration from war- The Golden Brewery torn, poverty-riddled Europe. Moving to Denver in 1872, Coors bought a By May Adolph had moved to Chicago and partnership in a bottling company and then his initial experiences in America were of back- became the sole owner. Searching for a good breaking physical labor. But he had worked brewery location, Adolph Coors along with at several breweries in Germany, and within a Denver candy maker Jacob Scheuler found year he was employed as the foreman at the the abandoned Golden City Tannery on the Stenger brewery in Naperville, Ill., American- banks of what was then a clear and sparkling izing his name to “Coors.” Clear Creek in the former territorial capital of Golden. By 1874 their business opened as the Golden Brewery and they were producing 800 gallons of “suds” every day. By 1879 Adolph Coors was prosperous enough to marry Louisa Weber, whose father was a manager for the Denver & Rio Grande Rail- road. They would have eight children, six of whom lived to adulthood—three sons and three daughters. The Coors family built a spacious home on the brewery grounds and surrounded it with beautiful landscaping. As testament to its reputation for quality, Co- ors beer won a medal at the 1893 World’s Co- lumbian Exposition (world’s fair) in Chicago, the only brewery west of the Mississippi to be honored. Adolph Coors had a good relation- ship with his mostly German workers, offering Coors Brewery employees 1893. Adolph Coors Sr. poses with his brewery free beer during work breaks, permitting them workers in front of the Adolph Coors Brewing Company in 1893. Coors, sitting to the left of the beer keg in the white hat, came to the U.S. as a penniless to join the national brewer’s union, and pay- stowaway, eventually achieving enormous success and creating a legendary ing generous wages for the time. Many workers American brewing dynasty. He felt a close kinship with his mostly German lived in “Goosetown,” the German working- brewery employees. Two of his sons, Grover (left) and Herman (right), sit on either side of the case of beer in front class neighborhood on the northern edge of Golden History Museum, City of Golden, Dennis L. Potter Collection Golden near the railroad yards. In 1894, Coors showed his tendency for quick- Adolph Coors’ timing was lucky, because the thinking when a massive Clear Creek flood U.S. was amid a national change in its drink- threatened to destroy his brewery. Rushing cash ing habits. The American people were switch- payments across the creek to the owners of four ing from drinking mainly English-style ale to houses, he had his workers demolish the homes lighter Central European-type lager and pilsner and dig a diversionary route for the creek where beers. New York and Philadelphia were the lead- the houses had stood, saving the brewery. Clear Creek still follows this same channel today.

34 Historically Jeffco 2020 PREMIER LEGACY BUSINESSES

Coors Malted Milk landscaping. A sign made of flowers adorns the lawn near the Coors home in this 1928 photo. The Coors brewery survived Prohibition, in part by selling malted milk products. The Mars Candy Company bought huge quantities of Coors malted milk to Surviving Tough Times Diversifying and Innovating use in Mars Bars and other candies. Coors By 1915 a far worse menace than any flood In addition to introducing a cold-brewing pro- also sold packages of malt extract, which, threatened to destroy Colorado’s brewing in- cess in place of pasteurization, Adolph Coors’ when combined with dustry—Prohibition! On January 1, 1916, grandson Bill Coors pioneered selling beer in water and yeast, made Colorado went dry through action by the state aluminum cans in 1959, adding to the brew- delightful home brew legislature. The entire brewing and distilling in- ery’s reputation for innovation. A pioneering Golden History Museum & Park, City of Golden, Dennis L. dustries in Colorado were in jeopardy of extinc- recycling system reflected Bill Coors’ concern Potter Collection tion. Matters only worsened in 1920 with the for the environment. In 1974 the Golden Tran- adoption of nationwide Prohibition through script reported that more than two billion alu- the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. minum cans had been recycled. But the wily Coors family evaded this fate by By 1960, Adolph Coors III was chairman of the diversifying and adapting. They bought John brewing company. On February 9, his car was H. Herold’s Golden Pottery works and pro- found abandoned near his home near Morri- duced industrial and laboratory ceramics plus son. A ransom note followed. Though Coors’ colorful tableware, now highly collectible. Mars wife Mary followed the ransom instructions, Candy Company bought tons of Coors malt nothing more was heard from the kidnapper. products. Coors began brewing a “near beer” Seven months later, Coors’ remains were found (alcohol-free) called Mannah. And among the near Sedalia in Douglas County. A massive FBI most popular Coors products during Prohibi- manhunt led to the arrest of Joseph Corbett tion were packets of malt extract, which could Jr. in Vancouver. Corbett was a prison escap- be combined with yeast and water to make ee who had been convicted earlier of another home brew. murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released on parole in 1980. In 2009, he When Prohibition ended in 1933, Coors re- took his own life. bounded, even though the company’s founder, Adolph Coors, had died by suicide in 1929 Since Coors beer was distributed only in the by jumping out of a sixth-floor window at the West, it gained a cult status back East. Smug- Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach. He left no gling Coors became big business, and even re- note and the reasons for his suicide are still un- sulted in a movie, Smokey and the Bandit. The known. His son, Adolph Coors Jr., took over movie starred Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed as management of the company. Coors smugglers, with Sally Field and Jackie Gleason co-starring. It was the second-biggest While other independent breweries disap- hit of 1977, exceeded at the box office only by peared during the Great Depression, World Star Wars. Two sequels followed the original hit. War II, and the Eisenhower years, Coors not Inevitable Controversy only survived but prevailed, remaining family- owned and expanding distribution to 11 West- Despite the avalanche of free publicity gener- ern states. Through shrewd marketing strategies ated by Smokey and the Bandit, the Coors com- to bar owners and wholesalers, Coors thrived pany and family were embroiled in controversy even without heavy spending on marketing. stretching over two decades and to some extent

Historically Jeffco 2020 35 PREMIER LEGACY BUSINESSES

continuing to- 1981; Blue Moon wheat ale in 1995; Banquet day. Coors critics Beer, brewed from the original Adolph Coors focused on three formula; and Colorado Native in 2010. Zima, issues: the com- a clear, low-alcohol cooler, debuted in 1993 but pany’s alleged was discontinued in 2008. Coors also switched anti-labor poli- from a policy of avoiding mass marketing to cies; discrimina- using the same marketing techniques as other tion against Af- large brewers. rican Americans, In 2005 Coors merged with the Canadian Coors can manufacturing, Hispanics, and LBGTQ persons; and support Molson Company, which also controlled the 1990. In the late 1950s, of conservative Republican candidates and or- Miller Brewing Company, and became known Bill Coors investigated ganizations. Boycotts of Coors beer began in German methods as MillerCoors. Through a subsequent shift- of manufacturing 1966 by several Hispanic organizations and ing of corporate priorities, the company is now aluminum cans, spread further in 1977 during a bitter strike known as Molson Coors Beverage Company then modified, and by Coors employees. The defeat of the striking and its headquarters moved improved them. In workers and decertification from Denver to Chicago in 1959, Coors was the of their union led the AFL- first American brewery late 2019. to begin offering beer CIO to organize a decade- in aluminum cans. long national boycott of The Coors family still has Then Coors initiated Coors products. considerable corporate in- an ambitious recycling fluence, and still controls program that offered The Coors company has CoorsTek, descendant of “cash of cans,” a penny mostly put the labor and the original Coors porce- per can. By 1974 more discrimination issues be- lain company. CoorsTek than two billion cans had hind it, though liberal criti- been recycled. produces a vast array of cism of the Coors family Golden History Museum technical ceramics for the & Park, City of Golden, continues through its sup- automotive, medical, and Dennis L. Potter Collection port of the Heritage Foun- aerospace industries. dation and other conservative causes. Pete Coors, Coors has survived a disas- great-grandson of Adolph trous flood, Prohibition, Coors, ran for the U.S. the Great Depression, two Senate in 2004 as a Repub- world wars, labor strife, lican but was defeated by Coors nose cone. Coors Porcelain political controversy, and Company (now Coors Tek) began competition from micro- Democrat Ken Salazar. during Prohibition when Coors breweries to become the New Products, Markets bought an existing porcelain factory in Golden. Making tableware, premier legacy business in and Mergers industrial and laboratory ceramics, Jefferson County. the factory helped Coors survive Beginning in the late 1970s, Prohibition. During World War II, When Adolph Coors Coors began to market new Coors produced special insulators for stepped ashore in America a products that dramatically use by the Manhattan Project during development of the atomic bomb. penniless orphan, he never increased its visibility and During the Cold War the factory was could have dreamed that profits. First, in 1978, was even producing industrial ceramic the beer bearing his name missile nose cones for NASA and Coors Light, the “silver bul- would be guzzled by dedi- let,” now the second-most military use Golden History Museum & Park, City of Golden, cated beer drinkers around popular beer in America; Dennis L. Potter Collection the world more than 150 then Killian’s Irish Red in years later.

Works Cited: Banham, Russ. Coors: A Rocky Mountain Legend, Greenwich Publishing Group, Inc., Lyme, CT, 1998. Baum, Dan. Citizen Coors: An American Dynasty, William Morrow, NY, 2000. Robert D. McFadden, “William Coors, Brewery Chief and Ultraconservative Voice, Dies at 102,” New York Times, 10/14/2018. “Brewery Program: ‘Cash for Cans’ Volume Soars,” Golden Transcript, 1/15/1974. Kelly Anton, “Happy 60th Birthday to the Recyclable Aluminum Can,” Beer & Beyond, Molson Coors Blog, 1/22/2019. Erik Brooks, “From Stowaway to Brewery Magnate, Tracing the History of Adolf Coors,” Beer & Beyond, Molson Coors Blog, 2/16/2018.

36 Historically Jeffco 2020 PREMIER LEGACY BUSINESSES Thunder in the Foothills: Lockheed Martin By Richard Scudder, Jefferson County Historical Commission, with Ralph Dergance, former Martin Marietta engineer and program director

sile. Jefferson County, along with the Denver Chamber of Commerce, lobbied for the site, eventually choosing a 7,000-acre location nes- tled along the Platte River just north of the entrance to Waterton Canyon in south Jeffco. The site was chosen after some initial disap- pointment with the property search. Martin officials were shown several properties in the Denver area, but they were unsatisfied with any of them and were ready to give up on the Denver area. Hearing that the project was in Glenn L. Martin in a pusher-biplane, circa 1912 trouble, Calvin Snyder, Director of the Den- Wikipedia ver Chamber of Commerce, talked company representatives into staying over a few more lenn Martin (1886-1955) was an early days. According to William Harwood in Raise aviation pioneer who built and flew Heaven and Earth, Snyder and his associate Bill one of the first airplanes in 1909 in Sa- Gibbons pulled together the huge parcel. Cattle Glina, KS. He went on to build a record-breaking ranches, a turkey farm and number of sea planes. sugar beet farms in the vicin- In 1912, Martin created the first of multiple ity—many of them second aircraft companies—the Glenn Martin Com- or third generation—gave pany—in the nave of an old Methodist church way to the new aerospace gi- in Los Angeles. Through multiple mergers over ant in the foothills. many decades, it finally culminated in Lock- Hundreds of engineers and heed Martin, one of the most consequential other employees left plants aviation companies in the world. on the East Coast to come to the Littleton area. The Martin Company at Waterton, 1958 Nearly 70 years ago, the Martin Company built They were tasked with building a rocket with Littleton Museum the Waterton Facility in the Colorado foothills, limited knowledge on how to do it. At that bringing tens of thousands of people to Jeffco time, little was known about how a large, multi- and helping establish the county as a key player stage rocket would work. The newly built plant in space exploration. in southern Jeffco was breaking new ground The Early Years: The Martin Company and inventing many aspects of the Titan rocket. New advances in metallurgy to build the rocket In September 1955, Martin was declared the as well as advances in propellants and avionics winner of a contract to build the Titan mis- were needed if the rocket was to be successful.

Lockheed Martin spreading across the foothills R. Scudder Historically Jeffco 2020 37 PREMIER LEGACY BUSINESSES

Just three years after starting to build the Water- business devoted exclusively to military hard- ton plant, the first Titan missile was completed ware was going to have a tough time over the in 1958 and sent to Cape Canaveral for testing. long haul. Military contracts waxed and waned Martin had created a rocket that for a half cen- and Bunker wanted a more stable company. A Fun Fact tury enabled the U.S. to launch manned space meeting between the two firms was arranged, The Inertial flights, send exploratory spacecraft through the where both saw that their strengths and weak- Guidance solar system, and protect the country during nesses complemented each other. Laboratory at the Cold War. Waterton is In October 1961, the newly merged business, situated on the Thunder in the Foothills Martin Marietta, was born. It employed 56,000 largest rock in One of the key reasons to locate the new facility people in 350 plants in all 48 states. North America— in the foothills was to provide a place which was From Rockets to Spacecraft six miles wide, five well out of sight and well protected. It was also miles deep, and Initially, the firm’s primary products were rock- necessary to provide a place where the stages of 28 miles long. ets and the defense industry, but Martin Mari- the Titan missile could be tested. Hidden away etta began to change in the 1960s to focus more in a fold of the foothills, the new testing area on spacecraft. The Titan became more than a proved ideal for muffling the noise of the mas- defensive weapon. sive engines. In the early 1960s the Titan II was adapted to Sound testing instruments were set up through- launch the Gemini capsule that would carry out Jeffco and all the way to Boulder to moni- two astronauts at a time into space. Titan suc- tor sound waves. The area’s topography hid the ceeded in launching 12 Gemini spacecraft. The sound well. Listeners on the east side of the Titan then evolved to the Titan III and Titan foothills reported that the noise was no greater IV space launch vehicles and eventually helped than that of a large truck. launch the Viking missions to Mars. The impact of the new plant on southern Jeffer- Ralph Dergance, a retired engineer and pro- son County was immediate. Littleton had been gram director for Martin Marietta, remembers a small town serving the needs of the those years: surrounding farms and ranches. Be- ginning in 1955, the city of Littleton After about 10 years of being the country’s grew from a few thousand into tens preeminent ICBM [inter-continental ballistic of thousands of residents in just a few missile] and space launch vehicle builder, Martin years. New residential areas outside of Marietta decided it was time to expand its prod- Littleton also grew quickly, includ- uct base and technical expertise to ensure future ing Columbine Hills and Columbine growth and stability of the business. Knolls. The oldest house in this area In June 1966, a small team of engineers and was a 1950 red brick ranch on Ken scientists, primarily from Denver and Baltimore, Caryl Boulevard, which soon became was assembled in an off-site facility in downtown a day care center. Littleton to ‘go where no man had gone before’ by Titan Engine test stand Martin Marietta creating the first soft-landing spacecraft on Mars: in the foothills, 1958 the Viking Mars Lander. Littleton Museum In 1961, the American-Marietta Company was Literally starting with ‘blank paper,’ this multi- one of the major players on the Fortune 200 disciplined team was faced with state-of-the-art list. While it was an important provider of con- challenges in every element of the spacecraft. The struction materials, it was therefore subject to requirements for controlling spacecraft mass, the cycles of the construction industries. The power consumption, surviving interplanetary and company began seeking new opportunities. Martian environments and planetary quarantine At the same time, George Bunker, President of constraints, and the difficult task of achieving the Martin Company, began to realize that a an autonomous soft landing represented unprec- edented design and operational challenges.

38 Historically Jeffco 2020 PREMIER LEGACY BUSINESSES

Martin Marietta had in space launch vehicles and expanding its ability to provide services to many customers. It also led to the streamlining of programs and the consolidation of facilities throughout the U.S. However, the need for consolidation was not yet met. In a dinner meeting in 1993, Secretary of Defense Les Aspin told defense industry executives that federal budgets would be cut even more. • In 1994 the push for consolidation of the The Viking Lander, 1974 space industry continued. Norm Augus- NASA website: Mars.nasa.gov tine, President of Martin Marietta, briefly considered a merger with Grumman. The Key to the eventual success of the Viking missions price was too high. Just as that deal fold- was formation of a team comprised of MMC, ed, Lockheed approached Augustine with NASA, JPL, the scientific communities, and another offer. Would he consider merging many key specialty subcontractors. Without this with them to form the largest company in team effort, we would not have been successful. the defense industry? After a series of se- Ten years after the initial formation of the small cret meetings, the two businesses merged to MMC team, two Viking Landers successfully soft form Lockheed Martin. landed on the Red Planet and operated for many • In 1996, Martin Marietta Materials was years beyond the specified life requirements. Many spun off from Lockheed Martin so that the of the key elements of the Viking Program that latter could focus on its core defense and were successfully developed for the first time have aerospace business. been used on subsequent Mars Landers. Today, both Martin Marietta and Lockheed As a result of this unqualified success, Martin Martin co-exist in Jefferson County. Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin Space) has Marietta is in the materials business and oper- been continuously involved in Mars and other ates the quarry at the junction of Interstate 70 planetary missions. The proven performance of and State Highway 93, while Lockheed Martin Viking ‘set the table’ for this continued success in operates on the original site that Martin began a myriad of other spacecraft programs. in 1955. Building the Company Economic Ups and Downs This was the beginning of a series of mergers During the 1980s and 90s, Lockheed Martin which led to the aerospace giant of today: had many economic ups and downs, which co- • In 1992, Jack Welch, Chairman of General incided with the ebbs and flows of various fed- Electric, decided he wanted to get out of eral and defense contracts. During these years, markets and raise some cash. He initiated the company employed as many as 14,000 the deal with Martin Marietta to sell the workers. It was a well-educated workforce with GE Aerospace Business to them for $3 bil- numerous engineers and managers who became lion dollars. The deal made artinM Mari- local leaders and helped build the community. etta the premier aerospace business and But in the late 1980s, over 7,000 employees doubled the size of the company. were laid off and economic devastation came • A year later, Martin Marietta purchased the with it. The real estate market was severely Atlas Rocket unit from General Dynamics, overbuilt in the Littleton area and thousands of adding to the already significant business square feet of retail space sat empty.

Historically Jeffco 2020 39 PREMIER LEGACY BUSINESSES

Lockheed Martin Ends 50 Years of Rocket • Continues its 45-year involvement in solar Building in Jeffco system exploration programs In 2005, Lockheed Martin announced that the • Provides the Defense Department with era of rocket building in Jefferson County was many classified programs that have been coming to an end. The company had built more on-going for over 35 years than 600 rockets that “carried everything from • Provides a unique self-contained facility in nuclear missiles to astronauts Jefferson County that includes: like Neil Armstrong and Frank • Engineering/design Borman to top secret satel- • Prototype development lites,” according to an article • Manufacturing in the Rocky Mountain News. • Testing At that point, the company Lockheed Martin has held a large organizational began to shift the building of presence in Jefferson County for nearly 70 years. the Atlas Launch vehicles to It has contributed in many ways not only to the the former Boeing facilities in U.S. defense and aerospace industries, but also Alabama. This shift was part to the lives of thousands of people in the com- Martin Marietta Titan of Lockheed Martin’s new joint venture with munity. The company is still going strong and Missile in a silo Boeing, the United Launch Alliance. Wiki Commons contributing to the next phase of our explora- The last Titan, the 39th Titan IV, was launched tion of space and the defense of our country. in October 2005. About 200 Lockheed Martin employees had helped build the rocket, and its launch was bittersweet. It put a classified military satellite into space. Over the years, thousands of people had help build the rockets, which cost from $275 million to $450 million each. The focus in Jefferson County switched to the building of interplanetary spacecraft as well as satellite technology. The first of these major The next phase: NASA Orion Spacecraft projects was the building of the Mars Recon- NASA Website, Nasa.gov naissance Orbiter. At that time, the number of employees was down to about 4,500 people at the Waterton facility. Works Cited: Roger Fillion, “50 years of Rocket Building coming to a close in st Lockheed Martin in the 21 Century Colorado,” Rocky Mountain News, 5/5/2005. Harwood, William B. Raise Heaven and Earth, Simon and Schuster, As Lockheed Martin moves into the third de- NY, 1993. st cade of the 21 century, it continues its pres- Jefferson County Historical Society, “Cultural Resource Survey,” ence in Jeffco as a premier defense and aerospace Jefferson County. company, today employing over 8,300 people. Lockheed Martin. “Innovation with a Purpose,” The History Factory, Washington, DC, 2013. The company celebrates both its heritage and Teets, Peter B. Martin Marietta Denver Aerospace—30 Years of its plans for the future, while also recognizing Progress, Denver: Martin Marietta, 1986. its most notable accomplishments, including: Diane Wray Tomasso, “Historic Context of Littleton,” Colorado, 1949-1967. Prepared for the Office of Community Development, • Recognized as the world’s preeminent build- Littleton, CO, 2008. er of space launch vehicles for over 50 years “Glenn L. Martin Dies of Stroke. Pioneer Pilot and Designer, 69. Early Barnstormer Built First Plane in 1909 of Bamboo. Aided • Involved in manned space flight programs Navy and Air Force Glenn L. Martin, Aviation Pioneer, Dies.” New for over 45 years, continuing that heritage York Times, 12/5/1955. as it works on the Orion program and the return to the moon

40 Historically Jeffco 2020 PRESERVATION 2020 Historic Landmark: Lazy J Ranch By Richard Scudder, Chair, JCHC Landmark and Preservation Committee

The barn on the Lazy J property appears to be built in the same style and materials as the Rooney Ranch. It was built by the Derby brothers in 1895, likely with the Rooneys helping with its construction. In the early 1900s, the barn cracked and was never completely repaired, even though Alice Rooney Derby complained about it. The crack can be seen on his year the Jefferson Coun- The Lazy J Ranch near Alameda Parkway the inside of the building ty Historical Commission’s R. Scudder and has been stabilized by the current Landmark and Preservation The Rooney Ranch (see page 8 for re- owner, Ron Moreland. CommitteeT awarded historic landmark lated story), which sits on the eastern The bunk house is very rustic in style status to the barn and bunkhouse on side of the Dinosaur Ridge hogback, and was built earlier, circa 1880. The in- the Lazy J Ranch. Located on the ranch was at one time the largest cattle ranch terior has been converted into a cabin. property at the foot of Red Rocks Park, in Jeffco, stretching 4,480 acres. The As a boy, Moreland said he had seen the two structures are early examples of two ranches often worked together, the ranch when on an outing to Red the rustic style of architecture typical trading skills and tools. Even today, Rocks Amphitheatre. He told his in early Colorado ranches. both ranches continue to work cattle. mother that one day he would own This property reflects the culture The Rooney ranch still has several it, and, while it took many decades, of the early ranches in Golden. The buildings built by founder Alexan- his boyhood dream finally came true. ranch was settled in 1865 by the der Rooney. The stone buildings were After the purchase he worked on Derby boys, one of whom—William made of nearby native sandstone and the barn, taking care to preserve its Derby—later married Alice Rooney, limestone, while the mortar used to historic character, and then did the the daughter of the Rooney ranching bind the stones was mined on the same for the bunkhouse. family. The Derbys raised cattle on ranch and mixed with sand from a the ranch for many years. nearby creek.

Ranch corral The old crack in the wall The rustic bunkhouse R. Scudder R. Scudder R. Scudder

Historically Jeffco 2020 41 PRESERVATION Conley Coffee Shop: Let’s Have Another Piece of Pie! By Bonnie Scudder, Jefferson County Historical Commission

y many historical accounts, “the best Staunton State Park) to Kings Valley and in- pies you ever tasted” were a daily offer- cluded land on both sides of the current U.S. ing decades ago at the Conley Coffee Highway 285. The Conley family lived in a ShopB in Conifer. small wood-chink cabin on south Elk Creek Built in 1927, the Conley Coffee Shop—12454 Road; the cabin collapsed in 1995. U.S. Highway 285, just west of Kings Valley At just 675 square feet, the coffee shop served in Conifer—was named a Jefferson County Sadie Conley’s pies, “the best pies you ever Historic Landmark in 2004 by the Jefferson tasted,” according to Conifer native Betty County Historical Commis- Fields Long (1925-2019). The sion (JCHC). The nomination Conleys called their business summary stated: a “coffee shop” because they This cabin was built in 1927 did not serve meals, but they by John J. Conley, who had ties did serve sandwiches, pies and to the Bijou Theater in Denver of course, coffee. Ann Con- and to the theater business. He ley, their daughter, recalled in had associations with famous an interview that she would theatrical friends includ- gather water from the creek near their home to take to the ing Isham Jones, a famous Richard Simmons coffee shop, indicating that the bandleader and songwriter Erlene Hulsey-Lutz who was a frequent customer at shop did not have running wa- the coffee shop. The coffee shop ter at that time. represents a style of life where In 1939, John Conley began it provided a place to gather Historical Designation certificate selling off portions of his land. and socialize. It was known (replica), Jefferson County Historical In 1946, he suffered a fatal Commission, 2004 locally for its homemade pies. heart attack while working at The cabin reflects Craftsman style and detail. the coffee shop. After his death, the shop closed The building maintained its original windows and the remainder of the Conley land was sold. and wood siding …. The cabin has double-hung Calfee Family windows and a metal ridge with finials on both gables of the roof. In 1951, 15 acres of the Conley land were purchased by Robert and Minnie Calfee for a History of the Conley Coffee Shop family summer retreat. The land was part of a Conley Family platted area called Clover Heights, which con- John J. and his wife sisted of hundreds of small plots used for small Sadie Conley pur- cabins or tents. This area is now known as Cal- chased around 500 fee Gulch. acres of land from Capps Family William T. Ander- Richard C. Capps purchased nearly 400 acres son and George of the Conley land in 1949, including parcels A. McCartney in south of the highway and the coffee shop it- 1927. The property self. Capps and his first wife, a native of France, Conley Coffee Shop, circa 1930 (note the Coca-Cola spanned from South re-opened the coffee shop as a French restau- sign and telephone symbol) Elk Creek Road rant. They later converted it back to a sandwich Anonymous owner (directly south of

42 Historically Jeffco 2020 PRESERVATION shop. Capps owned land on both sides of the Works Cited: Email communication between the author and Barbara Stocklin- current U.S. Highway 285 from Kings Valley Steely, MS, Senior Historian, Region I, Colorado Department of west to Calfee Gulch. A decorated WWII vet- Transportation. 2/5/2020 eran, Capps died in 2001. “Historic Site Designations in Jefferson County,” Historically Jeffco Magazine, 2004. Jefferson County Historical Commission. Coverage in Local History Books Heideman, Lee. Homesteaders, Moonshiners and Frontier Law: An Two regional authors wrote about the Conley Historical Journey from Aspen Park to Kenosha Pass. 2003. Jefferson County Assessor’s Section/Township/Range reports. Coffee Shop in their local history books pub- Frazier, Ronda, Jefferson County Archivist. lished within the past two decades. In 2003, Brittany Gada, Planner, Jefferson County Planning and Zoning. Lee Heideman interviewed the owner as well as Scudder, Bonnie E. The Secrets of Elk Creek: Shaffer’s Crossing, Ann Conley and shared their stories. Ten years Staunton State Park, and Beyond. Pine, CO, Elk Creek Publishing, 2013. later, the author of this article chose to feature Coffee and pie illustrations designed by Freepik the shop and share a photo of the historic landmark certificate in her book. The fact that two authors discussed this little, one-time coffee shop in their books speaks to the importance of the memories of this community and the role that the Conley Coffee Shop played among area residents. Both books also mention Isham Jones, who owned a ranch and a grocery store/gas station/restaurant at Shaffer’s Crossing from 1935 to 1947. Isham and his band played at weekend dances held at the nearby historic Historic Conley Coffee Shop, 2020 Elk Creek Octagon building. R. Scudder

Saving the Conley Coffee Shop

Now referred to as “The Gatehouse” by its current owner, the Conley Coffee Shop is in danger of being demolished. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is seeking possession of the property to allow for construction of an overpass on U.S. Highway 285 at Kings Valley. The highway enhancement would increase traffic safety at the area, where serious accidents, including several fatalities, have occurred during the past decade. However, the owner of the Conley Coffee Shop building (who wishes to remain anonymous) is concerned about the poten- tial loss of this local landmark. She contacted me as a member of the Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC). I brought the issue before the Commission, which authorized a letter stating the historical significance of the site and suggesting alternative actions to preserve its valuable history. In 2004, CDOT completed an environmental assessment of the area and concluded that there would not be an impact to local historic properties. Fast forward to 2019, CDOT began preliminary design work which included assembling historical information on several properties in the vicinity which are more than 50 years old. While there are currently no funds or plans to complete the project design, use of federal funds is eventually anticipated, which would require CDOT to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (1966) and Section 4(f) of the U.S. Department of Transportation Act (1966). At that point, CDOT will consult with both the State Historical Preservation Office and the JCHC to solicit comments and input on historic properties. According to CDOT, once the project has been funded, the design work will proceed and the environmental process will start, including historic com- pliance requirements. In coordination with the state and JCHC, CDOT will also work with the public to gather information and input on the project. If no alternatives exist for relocation of CDOT’s planned overpass, then relocating the Conley Coffee Shop should be considered. An ideal scenario would entail moving the building further from the highway on the owner’s property. This would allow the interchange to be built, easing traffic congestion and saving lives, while still preserving an important slice of Jeffco history. – Bonnie Scudder, JCHC

Historically Jeffco 2020 43 PRESERVATION A Piece of County History Safely Recovered By Ronda Frazier, CA, Jefferson County Archivist

recent addition to the Jefferson County Koenig also asked the Commissioners to carry Treasurer’s Office is reviving a bit of for- burglary, daylight holdup and messenger insur- gotten county history. A “cannonball” ance, and strongly advised that all employees of safe—onceA advertised as “the strongest safe in the his office be bonded. According to theColorado world” and weighing over 3,500 pounds—is now Transcript, citizens of the county became con- on display in the lobby of the Treasurer’s office. cerned as to why the Treasurer’s office had not Obtaining the Safe been properly equipped with an adequate safe and burglar protection by this point, and they In 1933, during the Great Depression, Jefferson wanted their tax money protected. County Treasurer Samuel A. Koenig was faced with many problems. He worried In response, a motion was made by Commis- constantly about his personal safety due to sioner William G. Duvall and seconded by the amount of cash he was forced to keep Commissioner Gus A. Johnson that Treasurer on hand in his office and his inability to ac- Koenig’s request be granted for the purchase cess funds already on deposit in the county’s and installation of the safe. They directed the bank accounts. county clerk to advertise for bids immediately, Original Jefferson County although Board Chairman John R. Browne ob- Courthouse in Golden The county had been depositing its money in jected to the purchase, finding it unnecessary Jefferson County Archives the Rubey National Bank in Golden and the due to the depletion of the county’s funds be- First National Bank of Arvada. Due to the cause of the banking moratorium and the slow moratorium placed on banking transactions by collection of taxes during that time. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1933, the county could not access its existing accounts The clerk placed the notice for bids as follows: nor find a bank anywhere within Jeffco or in Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be neighboring Denver willing to comply with the received … for the furnishing and installing one strict provisions that came with the deposit of manganese steel safe, used or new, of at least “H” county funds. In addition, the county was un- rating and weighing between three and four thou- able to secure a bond for its Treasurer. sand pounds, inside measurement - 24”; to have one-half of the interior covered by an additional Koenig penned the following letter to the steel compartment, locked by an electric silent Board of County Commissioners, dated June signal combination lock, connected as directed; of 20, 1933: Diebold make or equal quality; the outside door to Gentlemen: be locked by two combinations, giving dual control and in addition thereto, to be further checked by As you are no doubt aware the equipment of this double time clock; … said safe to be installed in the office has been unsatisfactory for a long time with vault of the treasurer’s office at Golden, Colorado. no degree of safety to either the county or myself personally and in view of the existing conditions, The Charpiot Safe Company of 1650 Blake St. it is necessary to carry considerably more cash in Denver placed the winning bid. The county than has been done heretofore and it may be nec- bought the used Ely-Norris patented Manard essary for the present administration to carry all manganese steel “cannonball” safe for $450, is- or a greater portion of the county funds in our of- suing a warrant for its purchase on September fice. In view of the above conditions, I respectfully 5, 1933. Charpiot charged the county $15 per request that your honorable body will authorize year for its maintenance contract which guaran- Jefferson County Treasurer the purchase of a Diebold Manganese screw door teed proper working of all moving parts, and in Samuel A. Koenig safe with both combination and time locks. Also the event of a lockout, that an expert would be Jefferson County Archives with a burglar alarm attachment running to the dispatched “with all convenient speed” to open sheriff’s office. and repair it.

44 Historically Jeffco 2020 PRESERVATION

Cannonball Safes 1980s, the safe was considered too heavy to re- Cannonball safes were manufactured from the locate and instead, a vault was constructed in late 1800s to the early 1920s. The name comes the new office. from their round shape and extreme weight. After county offices moved into the current Advertised as “the strongest courthouse in 1993, the safe safe in the world” and “ab- found its way to the finance solutely robber proof,” their director’s office in the Jeffco rounded corners and 3,500 Public Library administra- to 5,000 pound weight kept tion building. The library them from being taken dur- used it until opening it being a robbery. came unreliable and no one Their extra thick walls made could be found to fix it. It Fun Fact then became a display piece of Manard manganese steel The doors of the and round 300 to 400 until it was finally moved cannonball safe pound compound doors into storage. featured a time- made them impossible to When Jeffco Treasurer Jerry lock system that blow up with dynamite or DiTullio learned of the safe’s allowed them nitroglycerin. The doors also existence, he knew it would to be opened contained a newly-invented be a perfect opportunity to only during daylight hours at time-lock system, patented Rounded compound door showcase a piece of county a specific time. Ronda Frazier history. In December 2019, by Sumner A. Ely in 1906. This invention York Safe & Lock Co. of the safe was cleaned up, helped end the York, PA, was awarded a moved out of storage on unfortunate grand prize medal for this a special truck, and then practice of the model at the 1915 Panama weighed by a local engineer- bank manager Pacific International Ex- ing firm, which found it to being dragged position in San Francisco. be 3,600 pounds—about out of bed by robbers in the That fact is embossed on the same as a compact SUV. middle of the The Treasurer’s office on the the base, helping to narrow night, to be down the Jeffco safe’s date second floor of the Admin- taken to his bank of manufacture to about istration and Courts build- and forced to 1920. The safe also features ing was engineered to hold open the safe. fine Art Deco ornamenta- 4,000 pounds. With the tion and scrollwork on its help of the Jeffco Facilities door, sides, and base. department, a crew from Safe’s Use and Ely-Norris Patented Manard State-Wide Lock & Safe Placement Manganese Steel “Cannonball” Safe, Co. of Denver moved the circa 1920 safe from the patio area be- Upon its purchase in 1933, Ronda Frazier hind the second floor of the the safe was housed in the building, down the hall, and Treasurer’s vault in the original Jefferson Coun- into the lobby of the Treasurer’s office. ty courthouse, 15th Street and Washington Av- enue in Golden. It was used for many years by Visitors can now see the safe on display and pe- the Treasurer’s office in both the 1878 and 1953 ruse a framed collage of historical documents re- courthouses. (The 1953 courthouse was located lated to the county’s purchase of the safe in 1933. at 17th and Arapahoe Streets in Golden.) Counting its latest location, the historic safe When the Treasurer’s office moved out of the has now been housed in all three Jefferson courthouse and into its own building in the late County courthouses. Early marketing of these

Historically Jeffco 2020 45 PRESERVATION HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

“absolutely robber proof” cannonball safes encouraged banks to place them proudly in their Long Expedition lobbies, even displaying them by a window to prove to customers just how safe their money Brought First U.S. would be. Explorers to Jeffco The placement of this safe in the Treasurer’s Of- fice lobby is somewhat symbolic of that, even if it no longer safeguards county funds. 200 Years Ago By Richard Gardner, Jefferson County Historical Commission

verlooking the Colorado plains and visible from the seats of Coors Field is the beautiful snowcapped mountain ofO Long’s Peak (14,259 feet). This year marks the bicentennial of the expedition for whose leader it is named—Major Stephen Harriman Long—and the anniversary of his exploratory party to become the first U.S. explorers to set foot in today’s Jefferson County. Theirs was a brief but fascinating stay. In 1820 Long was appointed to lead an expedi- Treasurer’s Office safe exhibit, Jefferson County tion into the far west of the lands of the Louisi- Administration and Courts Facility ana Purchase, to find the sources of the Platte, Ronda Frazier Arkansas, and Red Rivers. Among the men who accompanied Long were Edwin P. James, Works Cited: a geologist, botanist and medical practitioner Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. “Bank Holiday Spreads Thru Entire Nation.” Colorado Transcript. 3/9/1933. from Albany, New York, who had a grand op- www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org portunity to create the first scientific survey of Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. “Jefferson County Money Not Wanted By Banks.” Colorado Transcript. 4/6/1933. this unknown region; and two Philadelphians, www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org naturalist Titian Ramsay Peale and landscape Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. “Koenig Can Qualify for artist Samuel Seymour. Treasurer.” Colorado Transcript. 6/22/1933. www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org The Long Expedition set out from Engineer Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. “Rubey National Bank Opens Doors Under U.S. Comptroller.” Oredigger. 3/28/1933. Cantonment (on the Missouri River near the www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org eastern border of today’s Nebraska) on June 6, Early Office Museum. “Antique Office Safes.” https://www. 1820. They headed west following the waters officemuseum.com/filing_equipment_safes.htm Journal of the Commissioners of Jefferson County, Colo. of what the French called the Riviére la Plat, 6/20/1933. Commission Minutes and Resolutions, Series 183, named for its being a wide, flat river (like a Jefferson County Archives, Golden, CO. plate), which became the anglicized Platte. Time Lock Service Contract, Charpiot Safe Company, 7/5/1933. Unprocessed Financial Records, Jefferson County Archives, Nearing the Rocky Mountains, the expedition Golden, CO. Email communication between the author and Natalie camped and held the first Independence Day Townsend, Re: Conversations with Mark Hubbard and Linda observance on the future site of Denver. The Everetts, 12/9/2019. lure of the mountains within sight constantly United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent No. 827,351, Sumner A. Ely, Patented July 31, 1906. https://www.uspto.gov/ baited the Long party, and several resolved to Warrant Register (General Fund) 1930-1935. Unprocessed reach the mountains the next day following Financial Records, Jefferson County Archives, Golden, Colorado. the course of a river they found flowing into WorthPoint. “Rare Antique Cannonball Safe.” Accessed 12/4/2019. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/rare-antique- the Platte just north of their campsite. Two cannonball-safe. Frenchmen who Long had hired neared Ne- braska (Joseph Bijeau, a guide and interpreter,

46 Historically Jeffco 2020 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

The oldest known image of today’s Jefferson County, the entrance to Waterton Canyon, as it appeared on July 6, 1820. Illustrated by Samuel Seymour, as published in Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains by Dr. Edwin James in 1823 Public Domain and Abraam Le Doux, a hunter and farrier) curlews, which were roasted and eaten with- christened this river Cannonball Creek, today out loss of time. Near the place of this halt they known as Clear Creek. observed some small sandstone ridges similar to those on the Platte below, and collected, among Arriving in Today’s Jefferson County other plants, the species of currant (ribes au- On July 5, James wrote in his diary of the first reum?) so often mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, journey of U.S. citizens into today’s Jeffer- the fruit of which formed an important article son County: of the sustenance of their party while crossing the Rocky Mountains. They also saw about the Mr. Peale and Dr. James, with two riflemen, shelvings of the sandstone rocks, which formed for went out for an excursion on foot, intending to some distance the banks of the stream, innumer- ascend the Cannon-ball [sic] creek to the moun- able nests of the cliff swallows, similar to those tains, which appeared to be about five miles seen on the Missouri. In returning to the camp by distant. This creek is rapid and clear, flowing over a different route, they were much annoyed by the a bed paved with rounded masses of granite and prickly pears, covering the ground so closely, that gneiss. It is from a supposed resemblance of these their feet were frequently wounded by the thorns, masses to cannon balls that the creek has received against which their mocksins [sic] presented but its name from the French hunters. The channel a very inadequate protection. Having killed a is sunk from fifty to one hundred feet below the young antelope, they reclosed the Platte, which common level of the plain ... was here about three feet deep, and clear, and The detached party extended their walk about rapid, and arrived at camp at sunset. eight miles without finding that they had very Throughout the day the main expedition had considerably diminished the apparent distance to the base of the mountain. They had unluckily ventured 10 miles further up the South Platte forgotten to make any provision for dinner, and and camped for the night where the detachment now found themselves fatigued and hungry at the rejoined them. The following morning the party distance of eight miles from the encampment of traveled onward along the river, encountering the main body and so far from the mountains, today’s Bear Creek, which they called Grand that it was evidently impossible they should reach Camp Creek in honor of a Grand Council held them and return on the same day. They therefore there in 1815 between French traders and the determined to relinquish the attempt, and Mr. Native American Indians living there. Peale was fortunate enough to kill a couple of

Historically Jeffco 2020 47 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

Beyond Grand Camp Creek the expedition … ornamented with numerous insulated co- encountered what they called Grape Creek, to- lumnar rocks, sometimes of a snowy whiteness, day’s Deer Creek. Then, as James wrote: standing like pyramids and obelisks, interspersed At eleven o’clock we arrived among mounds and hillocks at the boundary of that vast … The Platte, at the foot of plain, across which we had the mountains, is twenty-five held our weary march for a yards wide, having an average distance of near one thousand depth of about three feet, its miles, and encamped at the water clear and cool, and its base of the mountain. The current rapid. woodless plain is terminated Early in the morning of July by a range of naked and 7, James and Peale along almost perpendicular rocks, with two riflemen again set visible at a distance of several out as a detachment to go miles, and resembling a vast into the mountains, crossing wall, parallel to the base of to the north side into today’s the mountain. These rocks are Jefferson County, since it was sandstone similar in composi- Dr. Edwin James, one of the first the most accessible entrance tion and character to that U.S. explorers to set foot in today’s into the peaks. James wrote: on the Cannon-ball creek. Jefferson County while following Cannonball Creek (today’s Clear The river was here about four They emerge at a great angle Creek) on July 5, 1820 feet deep, and the strength of of inclination from beneath the current such as to render it the alluvial of the plain, and impossible for a man to keep rise abruptly to an elevation of one hundred and his feet in the deepest part of the stream. As some fifty or two hundred feet. Passing within this first of the party destined for the mountains could not range, we found a narrow valley separating it swim, it was thought hazardous for them to at- from a second ridge of sandstone, of nearly equal tempt to cross the river by fording. To obviate this elevation, and apparently difficulty, two men were sent resting against the base of a with a long rope, which they high primitive hill beyond. were directed to stretch across On July 6, the Long Expe- the river, making the ends fast dition was camped at the on either shore. This was read- south side of the mouth of ily accomplished, one of the Waterton Canyon along the men swimming across with an end of the rope in his teeth. east side of the hogback. By the aid of this, the detach- There, artist Samuel Sey- ment were enabled to keep mour stood on the promi- their feet in crossing, though nence and sketched the first with extreme difficulty, as the image ever made of Jefferson bed of the river was uneven County, showing the canyon and rocky. They all, however, entrance including the site arrived in safety on the left- of today’s Waterton Canyon. Maj. Stephen Harriman Long, as hand bank by about sunrise. painted by Charles Willson Peale The next day explorers from in 1819 After passing the region of the party found fossils with- inclined sandstone, which is in the sandstone of the long about two miles in width, they hogback range there, and found the valley be- began to rise upon what may be considered the tween it and the mountains: base of the mountain. As the day advanced, the heat became oppressive, and they found themselves

48 Historically Jeffco 2020 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES somewhat exhausted before they had crossed the Expedition continued its way south, where on sandstone hills, which appeared so inconsiderable July 14, James with two others became the first from our encampment, that the labour of crossing Americans known to summit Pike’s Peak, a feat them had been almost forgotten in estimating the which namesake Zebulon Montgomery Pike toils of the day. The first range of primitive rocks had never accomplished. they found far more abrupt and rugged than what Explorers’ Legacies they had already passed. Its sides are destitute of vegetation, except a few prickly pears and yuccas, After completing its explorations, the expedi- with here and there a stinted oak or juniper, and tion returned to the East. In relating his ex- so steep that great exertion as well as the utmost perience, Major Long told the world (er- caution, are necessary in ascending. roneously) the region was the “Great Troublesome Days American Desert” unfit for cultivation. After two more expeditions, Finding what had seemed a short trip to cross Long became prominent in the the first range became a climb over several ridg- field of steam locomotives, does, with more hills beyond. The party stopped ing much to advance America’s and decided to turn back, as the temperature transportation technology. He had soared to 86 degrees from just 72 degrees in died in Illinois in 1868. camp. By this point the South Platte “appeared like a small brook of two or three yards in James became an Army sur- width, and though white with foam and spray,” geon serving at frontier posts in it could not be heard. The men could also see the Great Lakes region where he both forks of the South Platte. worked with the Ojibwe tribe. He later married and settled on a farm near While descending, the party ate some cur- Burlington, Iowa, where his house became rants that turned out to be poisonous, causing Titian Ramsay Peale, a station on the Underground Railroad helping violent headaches, and in one man, alarming among the first U.S. runaway slaves escape to the North. James died explorers to set foot vomiting. Peale ventured alone to get medical in 1861. in today’s Jefferson aid, returning to camp in the afternoon “after a County on July 5, Titian Peale became a prominent naturalist 1820, while following most rugged and fatiguing march of about six Cannonball Creek miles.” There he found many of the men simi- whose collections are displayed in art and natu- (today’s Clear Creek) larly suffering though not as severely. As Peale ral history museums today. He later became a to the mountains ventured back with two men, James wrote of pioneering photographer. Peale died in 1885. new events in camp: Works Cited: Mr. Peale had left them but a short time, when The Annals of Iowa, George Frazee, “The Iowa Fugitive Slave their attention was called to the noise as of some Case,” Vol. 4, No. 2, p. 118-137, 1899. large animal running up the narrow defile in Edwin James, Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the which they were sitting; on turning round they Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819, 1820, London, 1923. “Florida Naturalists—Titian Ramsay Peale—Introduction,” www. perceived a large bear advancing at full speed floridamuseum.ufl.edu, accessed 5/27/2020. towards the place where they were. Seizing their Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. rifles, they fired upon him at the distance of Jerome Smiley, Semi-Centennial History of the State of Colorado, about ten steps, but the bear, without stopping Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1913, p. 98-100, 167 or turning his head, mounted an almost perpen- Kansasgenealogy.com, Dennis Partridge, “Scientific Expedition of Major Stephen H. Long,” accessed 5/27/2020. dicular precipice of about thirty feet, and was out The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military, Oxford of sight in an instant. University Press, 2001. “Scientist of the Day—Titian Ramsay Peale,” www.lindahall.org/ After Peale returned to the detachment with titian-ramsay-peale, accessed 5/27/2020. help for the ill men, the party was able to return U.S. Corps of Topographical Engineers, “Biography of Stephen H. to camp safely. Over the next days, they ex- Long,” accessed 5/27/2020. plored further into today’s Douglas County side of the canyon, ultimately to return. The Long

Historically Jeffco 2020 49 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES Goosetown a Jewel of Golden’s Heritage By Richard Gardner, Jefferson County Historical Commission

oosetown is one of Golden’s oldest and the first garden farm in Colorado that he and his most important historic neighbor- brother John planted there in 1859 and 1860. hoods with roots dating to the city’s The year 1873 marked the area’s largest build- Gearliest days and a colorful history through ing boom to date, with 30 individual buildings time. Today it has come to a unique crossroads, including the Goosetown Tavern, Pennsylvania with the City of Golden having purchased most House hotel, and Charley’s Hotel, along with of its open acreage for redevelopment as a fu- many railroad facilities. In 1874, Goosetown ture civic center. received one of Golden’s four fire cisterns—un- Bounded by Ford Street, Clear Creek, derground reservoirs 20 feet in diameter—for State Highway 58, and the eastern city limits, fire protection. Goosetown began in 1859 when David G. In 1874 the Rocky Mountain Stone Works Dargin built his grocery store there. Golden’s were built as a large structure on the river’s second storefront—a classic false-front of the shore at the foot of Archer Street. Using rock Old West—stood at the southeast corner quarried from Mt. Vernon and shipped via the of Water and Green Streets (the latter now Colorado Central Railroad, the factory carved known as Ford Street). the stone used to rebuild Central City after the The Goosetown From the beginning Goosetown was a lively great fire of 1874, only to ironically burn down neighborhood as it appeared in 1878. Photo (albeit grim) place, as it had become Golden’s itself in 1879. Other area landmarks built from taken standing above go-to site for summary punishment: Edgar Mt. Vernon stone include the Central City Op- the Colorado Central Railroad Roundhouse Vanover was hung here in September 1859, and era House built in 1878. with machine shop and “Canada Charley” Simpson was whipped here Goosetown was Golden’s German immigrant freight depot to the in 1860. right. Double storefront neighborhood. Every hotel that stood here building at right center After the Civil War development of the neigh- had a German owner at some point and there with grove of trees is the Omaha House borhood commenced in earnest with several were more saloons per capita than even in hotel. Other Goosetown homes and Burgess Hall constructed. downtown Golden. It was a lively and colorful landmarks visible include place, whether from con- the Rocky Mountain When William A.H. Love- House, Pennsylvania land began building the tentious elections (its first House, Goosetown office holder Julius Schultz Tavern and Rocky yards of his Colorado Cen- Mountain Stone Works tral Railroad, a full-fledged was called on to step down Gardner Family Collection neighborhood blossomed by his own party for fail- around them. Construc- ing to appoint cronies to tion of the railyards began municipal offices, citizen in 1868 and continued scrapes with the law, or through the 1870s, and inebriated adventurers. included the Roundhouse, North Side Grocery of John Treffeisen In 1883 a runaway train which stands at today’s northeast Freight Depot, and private corner of 10th and Ford Streets, as screamed its way into Goo- depots. This prompted sur- illustrated by J.A. Ricker setown via the Cheyenne rounding growth, as John Golden Globe Illustrated Edition, 5/15/1893 Hill grade along Tucker J. Bush, Silas W. Fisher Gulch, notorious for caus- and Joseph W. Booth added subdivisions called ing such accidents. Under the heroic guidance Bush & Fisher’s Addition and Booth’s Addition of neighborhood engineer Andrew Holmes, the in the 1870s. These took in the entirety of the locomotive was saved with no injuries from the lands initially claimed by David King Wall for cars that broke free or crashed.

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The streets of Goosetown tell a history all their own. For whom or what they were named include:

Archer Street Bagley Street Becky Street Booth Street Bush Street Carter Street James Archer, Union Father and sons Rebecca K. Cass, Joseph Wright John J. Bush, Judge Eli Carter, 1859 Pacific and Colorado Michael H., Charles H. wife of Goosetown Booth, 1862 settler Goosetown developer pioneer, a founder of Central Railroad officer and Henry A. Bagley, developer Joseph of eventual eastern and proprietor of the Golden Masonic smelter owners B. Cass (unopened) Goosetown Golden House hotel Lodge Crawford Street Depot Street East Street Garrison Street Loveland Street Mill Street David Caleb Colorado Central Original eastern limits Golden founder William Austin Location of Rocky Crawford, prominent Railroad freight depot of the city of Golden Thomas Garrison Hamilton Loveland, Mountain Stone Mills businessman and and railyards famed Colorado (aka Works) developer pioneer Platte Street Sickles Street Vasquez Street Wall Street Water Street West Street South Platte River Theophilus E. Sickles, Louis Vasquez, fur Where David King Parallels Clear Creek William West, manager to which Clear Creek chief engineer and trader along Clear Wall planted region’s of Golden Smelting is a tributary superintendent of Creek, after whom first garden farm Works at east side of Colorado Central the river was formerly Goosetown Railroad named (Vasquez Fork or Vasquez River)

Many railroad passengers, freighters and those Over time many Goosetown buildings were de- who did business livened things up even more. stroyed by vandalism, neglect, and the Tucker In 1879 William A.H. Loveland built and do- Gulch floods, which claimed two lives in 1896. nated Goosetown’s own The Coors Brewing Com- fire station, a wooden pany expanded heavily into building at the north- Goosetown from the 1950s west corner of today’s to the 1990s, leveling Booth’s 9th and East Streets. Addition and almost all of Housing the Loveland Bush & Fisher’s Addition, Hose Company, it was save for Sena’s Pizzeria at 210 Golden’s first fire station Depot St. Named for 1950s remote from central proprietor Sena Chiap- Colorado Central Railroad Freight Depot, pone and operating into the downtown and home which stood for a century just east of to its own volunteer today’s BNSF Depot from 1870-1968 1980s, the building stands by firefighters. It quickly Golden History Museums, City of Golden Collection what was once Goosetown’s merged with the central geographic center. station’s companies which became the unified Despite the level of destruction, most remain- volunteer Golden Fire Department. Serving ing structures of Goosetown are key land- Golden’s 3rd Ward (Goosetown), this station marks, including: and its stone successor built in 1927 served • The Burgess House (1866; 1015 Ford St.), Goosetown for a century. The original station converted from Burgess Hall in 1872, was still stands anonymously as a small cottage one of Golden’s longest operating and most behind 506 9th Street where the firefighters important hotels. moved it when a new station was built. • The Masonic Temple (1950; 500 10th St.) Goosetown went on an economic downturn is home to Colorado’s Masonic Lodge #1. starting with the Silver Crash in 1893, which • The Maas Residence (1912; 423 10th St.) is disrupted upstream economies served by the known to be made of the same experimental railroad, then slid further when the round- glazed bricks that the Quaintance Block of house and much of the railroad works were Golden and Union Station of Denver (both scrapped in 1927. The area has not fully recov- National Historic Register landmarks) ered to this day.

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are made from, and are • Goosetown also likely has the remaining three build- a subterranean landmark, ings confirmed to be built the fire cistern, at the in- with them. tersection of Depot and • The railyards retain both Carter Streets (one block their historic line con- east of Vasquez). figurations and the ruins The Burgess House, Bout- of the Colorado Cen- well and Maas Residences on tral Roundhouse at their Colorado Central Roundhouse, 1880s; 9th Street, and the Durham northeast edge (a brick foundation ruins remain today at the far east end of the railyards Tobacco Barn Mural are des- Fun Fact and concrete foundation Gardner Family Collection ignated Golden historic sites wall built alongside the today, and the neighborhood Goosetown was track in 1870). The railyards have never named after is eligible to become its own historic district. ceased freight operations, with the Conoco either the flock oil depot turning 75 years old this year. Today the City of Golden owns most of Bush & of geese Adolph Fisher’s Addition and the heart of Goosetown. Coors kept • Adjoining the railyards to their northwest On City lands stood prominent landmarks that across the river are the stone remains of the Benjamin Lime could hold remains including the Omaha House or the cackling Kiln near the tracks. (1879-1970s, junction Depot and 10th Streets); laughter of the • The Bawolski Residence (1873; 519 10th Rocky Mountain House (1882-1970s, south- neighborhood St.) was home to Lawrence Bawolski, a east corner Vasquez and Depot); Charley’s Ho- women who refugee of Polish nobility. lived there. tel (1873-1970s, southwest corner Vasquez and • Moved from the School of Mines campus, Depot); Lichtenheld Residence (1873-1970s, the Gray Residence stands at 410 9th St. northeast corner 10th and Vasquez Streets); and • At 10th and Ford Streets stands the North Rocky Mountain Stone Works (1874-1879, east Side Grocery of Civil War Union veteran side Archer Street at Clear Creek). Albert Treffeisen. What the City does next with Goosetown will • Across the gulch at 502 10th St. stands the determine its destiny. Plans to build a civic cen- modest home of prominent Colorado Cen- ter there could either spur development that tral Railroad engineer Peter S. Reed. unintentionally destroys what’s left of Goo- setown, or—with thoughtful planning and • The 900 block of 9th Street in- design—could revitalize and polish a jewel of cludes homes mostly built in Golden’s heritage. 1867—the Jones, Boutwell and Maas homes of 506-518 9th St. Works Cited: • The 900 block of 9th Street also Boutwell Residence, Golden Historic Designation, 3/22/2018. Burgess House, Golden Historic Designation, 3/23/1995. boasts Golden’s oldest fire sta- Colorado Transcript, 12/19/1866, 12/24/1873, 5/27/1874, tion buildings, the Loveland and 6/3/1874, 4/30/1879, 9/17/1879, 8/17/1881, 4/12/1882, 1/10/1883, 8/30/1893, 7/15/1896, 7/29/1896, 12/19/1912, 3rd Ward Fire Stations (the latter 5/28/1914, 2/18/1915, 4/29/1915, 6/24/1915, 6/1/1916, Burgess House hotel 2/3/1927, 2/10/1927, 6/7/1945, 3/9/1950, 3/22/1956, 8/9/1956. standing at today’s now the American Legion post). Durham Tobacco Barn Mural, Golden Historic Designation, 3/22/2018. 1015 Ford St., as it • On the small brick barn behind 514 9th appeared after being Golden City Council minutes, 1927. converted to a hotel in St. is an original Durham Tobacco mural Golden Globe, 6/7/1873, 9/20/1873, 5/15/1893 (Industrial Edition). the 1870s painted by the traveling artists of the Amer- Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. Golden History Museums, ican Tobacco Company. While it seems Jefferson County property records. City of Golden Collection strange to today’s viewers that the paint- Maas Residence, Golden Historic Designation, 11/10/1988. Quaintance Block, National Historic Register Designation, 3/25/1994. ing faces the alley, this is because when the Sanborn Insurance maps of Golden, 1906, 1911, 1919, 1938. work was originally created, its advertising Rocky Mountain News, 9/17/1859. faced the railroad passengers traveling by. Western Mountaineer, 11/1/1860. Willits Map of Golden, 1878.

52 Historically Jeffco 2020 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES Golden Church Initiated by “Three Consecrated Women” By Richard Gardner, Jefferson County Historical Commission

his year marks the 150th anniversary of vices were later shifted to the pews of the Coun- the founding of the First Presbyterian ty Court room where on March 26 the Pres- Church of Golden, creating one of the byterians needed to adjourn to the third floor Toldest churches of its faith in the state. since the District Court was in session. On July Golden had already been a pioneer of the faith in 9, 1871 Laurana P. Craig became the first new Colorado, forming the First Presbyterian Society member to join upon confession of faith. on April 30, 1860, led by the Rev. Lewis Ham- Golden’s famed pioneer, William A.H. Loveland, ilton. Hamilton had held the first church service gave land on which to build a new chapel. Love- in Golden’s history in land, the son of the Rev. Leonard Loveland, a June 1859 and went prisoner of war of the War of 1812, gave land for on to serve as Chap- most of Golden’s pioneer churches. On March lain of the 2nd Colo- 24, 1872 his wife Miranda became the first per- rado Cavalry. son to be baptized in the new congregation. In 1870 the circuit 1872: First Chapel riding minister Shel- Meanwhile the church’s new Gothic Revival don Jackson came style brick chapel rose at today’s 15th Street to Golden and on and Washington Avenue, funded by local and March 7, 1870 an eastern Presbyterians inspired by Lowrie. The Rev. Sheldon Jackson, enduring Presbyte- building measured 50 by 26 feet, with its ex- circuit riding minister who rian organization terior walls strengthened and ornamented by founded First Presbyterian was created. It was Church buttresses capped with stone. The 250-seat cha- a unique church in pel was completed at a cost of around $5,000 Golden and in Colorado for its being spear- and was dedicated on headed by women—Mary A. Patterson, Kate Golden’s 13th birthday, Johnson, and Mary B. Marshall—who had pe- June 16, 1872. This was titioned Jackson to come to Golden and orga- also the earliest known nize a church here. union church service in Ebenzer T. Osborne, a luminary of Calvary Golden, as the parish- Church, came over to this congregation and ioners of the Methodist became its Ruling Elder. It is to date the small- and Baptist churches est organizing congregation in the city’s history, joined the Presbyterians but was a truly dedicated group. On New Year’s in the sanctuary deco- Day 1871 Jackson celebrated its first commu- rated with evergreens nion service and installed its first pastor, the and wildflowers. The First Presbyterian Rev. J. Gibson Lowrie, a licentiate of the Pres- congregation prospered and by 1882 it had 160 Church in its original bytery of Fort Wayne. members with 140 Sunday School children. form as it appeared in 1873. South School is On January 10 the church’s first social gather- For reasons still unknown, the church building under construction in ing and offering (amounting to $6.35) took was declared unfit for worship in 1890 and the the background Golden Landmarks place at the home of Joseph T. Boyd. Starting congregation met at the Golden Opera House, Association, Richard A. January 23, 1871 First Presbyterian Church be- where while attendance grew well parishioners Ronzio Collection gan holding regular Sunday services at its new thought it not so great a place for divine wor- temporary home of First Baptist Church. Ser- ship and chose to return to their home.

Historically Jeffco 2020 53 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

In 1892 the congregation built the Manse, a Edward Mariska, was completed by the end of home for its pastors, next to the church. One the year, capable of seating 300 people on pews of the finest homes in Golden, it was a beau- of light oak. tiful brick house topped with an onion dome The focus of the sanctuary was the beautiful tower built by contractors Perre O. Unger and chancel with a hanging Celtic cross, reminiscent Charles H. Westergreen. In 1898 the chapel it- of the early Scottish stone crosses of Presbyte- self underwent a dramatic transformation when rian heritage. The building itself was shaped as Golden-educated architect James H. Gow re- a cross and featured a 60-foot bell tower topped designed and rebuilt it by a metal spire. The to feature a cruciform complex plans included sanctuary and Gothic a companion building bell tower entrance. with six classrooms, so- The structure would cial hall, kitchen, and ultimately become one office. In 1964 a two- of three of the master’s story addition was an- designs to be recognized nexed in addition to the by the National Register sanctuary narthex. of Historic Places. The church’s original Over time the grow- First Presbyterian Church as it appeared after its home went on to being congregation made 1898 expansion and transformation designed by James H. Gow come the first home this expansion obsolete Golden History Museums, City of Golden Collection of Jefferson Unitarian but plans never came Church in 1959, and, to fruition until after World War II which in 1968, in one of Jeffco’s early preservation brought matters to a head. A Sunday school endeavors, became home of the Foothills Art teacher brought this to the attention of Robert Center which it remains today. It is listed on Dunham, a young architect in the congrega- the National Historic Register, and First Pres- tion, who designed its rear fellowship addition byterian’s current home is eligible to be listed built by contractors Lawrence W. Billis and as well. Ted Andersen. Its center room was dedicated th in memory of congregation member Master Upon its 150 milestone, the legacy of the First Sergeant James Stough Miller, son of Jefferson Presbyterian Church of Golden may well be re- County Republican editor James Cuyler Miller, flected on by Jackson, who went on to become a 1937 Colorado School of Mines graduate. prominent in Alaska Territory with the U.S. Msgt. Miller served in the 515th Coast Artillery Department of the Interior. On the church’s an- Corps anti-aircraft division at Fort Stotsenberg niversary in 1907, Jackson wrote to the church in the Philippines, survived the Bataan Death elders: “I have always taken a great interest in March, and died at Pusan, Korea, as a prisoner the church at Golden.” He further reflected on of war. its founding by “three consecrated women under the influence of God’s spirit” who “were a 1958: Second Church host in themselves ... Those were stirring days in With the arrival of the Rev. Charles C. Griffin Golden and I look back to the struggles of your in 1955 the church needs were assessed, and in a church with great interest,” he concluded. close congregational vote it was decided to pur-

sue a new home. On June 2, 1957 ground was Works Cited: broken for the new First Presbyterian Church Colorado Freedom Memorial, records on Msgt. James on four acres purchased at West 16th Avenue Stough Miller. Colorado Transcript, 11/1/1871, 7/20/1898, 1/17/1907, and South Golden Road. The new Modernist 11/14/1929, 5/15/1958, 4/16/1964, 3/5/1970. chapel, designed by Ralph D. Peterson and as- Historical files of Richard J. Gardner. sociate Arthur T. Auburn and constructed by Jefferson County property records.

54 Historically Jeffco 2020 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES Moonshiners, Bootleggers and Speakeasies: Prohibition in Jeffco By John Steinle, Jefferson County Historical Commission 1916: Colorado’s Early Prohibition “It may be noticed that members of the As a result, the Colorado Legislature passed a bootleggers’ union never go on strike.” state Prohibition law in 1915, which went into — Golden Transcript, March 9, 1922 effect on January 1, 1916. For several weeks beforehand, Foss Drugs in Golden advertised a sale on rubbing alcohol. In Denver, the night y the early 1900s, local corner saloons of December 31, 1915 was said to be remark- and the liquor industry across the U.S. ably quiet. Not so in Jefferson County, where had begun to come under increased the Golden Transcript reported that, scrutinyB and condemnation. The saloons of … the passing of Golden as a wet town was that time were usually for men only, though marked by a grand free-for-all fight, but no one they might have a back room for women and was hurt much, and a few of the belligerent ones children. They were outposts where the men obtained a warm bed at Sheriff Dennis’s estab- could gather after a hard day’s work, talk over lishment. The row started about 10 o clock on the issues of the day, drink whiskey and beer, the night of the 31st apparently over nothing in enjoy a game of poker, smoke cigars, chew to- particular. Soon after the battle started and swung bacco, cuss, argue over sports, and do all the into the streets the saloons were all closed and John other things that most men naturally like to do. Barleycorn departed. Saloons were also breeding grounds for the cor- With Prohibition officially in effect, which rupt local political machines who habitually businesses were most likely to go bankrupt? bought drinks and votes—by bribing men with The obvious answer: breweries and distilleries. drinks—at the same time. And they contrib- However, the Adolph Coors Brewing Company uted to the national scourge of alcoholism, en- survived, thanks to some very smart shifting of couraging men to blow their meagre paychecks products and marketing. Coors bought a ceram- on “demon alcohol.” The problem of alcohol- ics factory in Golden and started making table- ism in the last century paralleled the issue of ware plus industrial and laboratory ceramics. opioid addiction in this century. Coors also sold their malted milk to the Mars Both the Women’s Christian Temperance Candy Company, resulting in … the Milky Way Union and the Anti-Saloon League grew in Bar! But one of their smartest moves was to start power and influence over the decades, with the packaging and selling malt extract. When you latter becoming one of the most powerful lob- add water and yeast to malt extract and let it bying groups in the country. ferment, the result is home brew. In effect, Co- The sentiment for Prohibition became even ors became the biggest bootlegger in the state, stronger when the Anti-Saloon League joined completely legally. Coors even survived the na- forces with the women’s suffrage movement. tional adoption of Prohibition through the 18th Six-foot-tall prohibitionist Carrie Nation went Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. around the country smashing up saloons with 1920: Nationwide Prohibition her axe. Revered Democratic political leader William Jennings Bryan plus evangelist Billy In the aftermath of World War I, a wave of re- Sunday crusaded for Prohibition. Strong doses form swept the country, as if citizens felt that of prejudice against immigrants such as the the sacrifices made during the war had to be Irish with their whiskey, the Germans with matched by national purification. The Prohi- their beer, and the Italians with their wine also bition and Women’s Suffrage crusades joined played a role in moving toward Prohibition. forces. Both campaigns were crowned with

Historically Jeffco 2020 55 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

success in 1920 by passage of the 18th and 19th tered to Denver residents and remained open. Amendments, authorizing national Prohibition At least one roadhouse was reported as having as well as the right of wom- scantily clad women hanging out of the second- en to vote. floor windows to attract customers. At an overflow meeting of Speakeasies were also prevalent in Jeffco. They the Anti-Saloon League, were usually a bit more upscale than the road- William Jennings Bryan houses and a password was often necessary to rose to deliver a burst of his enter. In 1931, 23 police officers raided the La typical Biblically-flavored Palma speakeasy in Wheat Ridge, where 25 oratory, thundering out bootleggers had gathered to regulate the sup- words from the Gospel of ply and price of whiskey in Denver. There was Saint Matthew, no liquor at the meeting and the men could only be charged with vagrancy. Apparently, the Fun Fact They are dead that sought the young child’s life … they are dead … they are dead! meeting was called by Pete Carlino, one of the The Golden leading bootleggers in Pueblo. He was trying to Chateau (above) Well, not quite. And even those who preached create a Capone-style liquor cartel in Denver. opened as a the Christian gospel were not immune from The leading speakeasy in Evergreen was Prince roadhouse and the lure of Prohibition money. In 1922, the McCracken’s drug store on Main Street, where dance hall in beautiful Catholic Shrine of St. Anne opened 1926. On Easley in Arvada, and it is still a thriving parish. Its medicinal doses of whiskey could be obtained Road in Golden, first pastor was Father Walter Grace, but he fell by prescriptions that local doctors were only the building from grace within a year or so. It was found too happy to write for a fee. The drug store spent many out that he was exploiting a loophole in the building survives today, and it continues a long years as a car national Prohibition act that allowed the sale tradition of liquor sales because it has been the repair shop and of religious wine. Apparently, Father Grace internationally (in)famous Little Bear Saloon is now the Lodge was buying large quantities of this sacramental since the 1970s. building of the wine and then selling it under the table to his Golden Elks Club. parishioners. Federal Prohibition agents went after Father Grace, but he absconded to Chi- cago, leaving behind an unpaid bill at Daniels & Fischer of more than $525. Jeffco’s Roadhouses and Speakeasies Jefferson County was notorious for its many roadhouses, country establishments tucked into remote locations far from local law enforcement. Some were just a shack with a makeshift bar inside, and others were very nicely decorat- Prince McCracken’s drug store in Evergreen was a legal speakeasy. A loophole in the Prohibition laws allowed ed, with elaborate bars, live music, dance floors, for sale of “medicinal” liquor, which could be obtained slot machines, pool tables and decent food. at pharmacies with an easily-procured doctor’s prescription. Fittingly enough, this building is now the When the Smile-In roadhouse in Arvada was (in)famous Little Bear Saloon. raided and padlocked in 1931, it was described John Steinle in the Golden Transcript as having an old-fash- ioned bar, slot machines, tables and all the para- Moonshine and Bootleggers phernalia of a speakeasy. Colorado moonshine was sometimes known In 1925 Sheriff Walter Johnson and other offi- as sugar moon, because much of it was made cers padlocked the Oasis and Twilight Gardens from sugar beets. If you wanted a bit more fla- roadhouses for a year, while the Silver State vor, aged moonshine was known as Leadville Club roadhouse near Jeffco’s eastern edge ca- moon, said to get its unique aroma and taste

56 Historically Jeffco 2020 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

from gunpowder and old miners’ overalls. As Even as Jefferson County was being singled out Walter H. Johnson (left) was a member a testament to the quality (or lack thereof) of as a hotbed of bootlegging, county officials were of one of Golden’s local moonshine, in 1925 Fred Denave of the in the forefront of Prohibition enforcement. oldest families, and Midway roadhouse was arrested by John F. Vivian of Golden was ap- he was the grandson of one Sheriff and Jeffco Sheriff Walter Johnson while pointed Federal Prohibition Direc- the son of another. In trying to filter out some of the char- tor for the entire Rocky Mountain 1924 he was elected Sheriff in his own right, coal his bottles of whiskey had in region in 1923. Vivian was a former and initiated many them as flavoring. Jefferson County District Attorney improvements, includ- who was one of the most powerful ing the introduction Denave wasn’t the only bootlegger or of fingerprinting and moonshiner to threaten public health. Republican politicians in Colorado. photographing each During the Prohibition era the phrase Vivian was energetic in pursuing jail inmate. Surviving bootleggers, moonshiners and orga- a vicious attack by “blind drunk” became more than a an escapee, Johnson nized crime, but was forced to resign energetically pursued euphemism. Liquor poisoned with Sheriff Walter Johnson wood alcohol or other toxic substanc- in 1931 after one of his detectives bootleggers, moon- Golden History Museum, shot and killed a young Englewood shiners and illegal es kept hospitals busy. Gulping poi- City of Golden, roadhouses through- soned Jamaica Ginger or “Jake” led to Dennis L. Potter Collection teenager during an arrest attempt. out the County. Ironi- cally, he was indicted a peculiar stumbling gait known as “Jake leg.” Supporters of Prohibition by a grand jury in 1929 for alleged collusion On New Year’s Day 1927, the New York World During much of the Prohibition era, Jeffco’s with bootleggers. reported that 760 people died in New York City sheriff was Walter Johnson, who came from an Though the case was during the previous year from poisoned hooch. old Golden family. Johnson pursued Prohibi- dismissed for lack of evidence, it probably Even if the alcohol was not poisonous, deaths tion violators energetically. In January 1926 he led to his defeat by from cirrhosis of the liver and psychosis from and his deputies discovered the largest moon- James G. Biggins in alcohol abuse mushroomed during Prohibition. shine operation ever in Jefferson County, on the the 1930 election. Some local moonshiners had very elaborate set- O. l. Wilson farm south of Golden. Three huge ups. In 1927 Sheriff Johnson and Federal agents stills were found, with a total capacity of 200 raided a giant liquor distillery six miles west of gallons of whiskey. Conifer. They seized 65 gallons of whiskey and In 1927 Johnson was wily enough to intercept a 10,000 gallons of mash. A system of telegraph shipment of the “real stuff” sent from New York wires concealed in the underbrush surround- and disguised as olive oil. But in 1929 Johnson ing the distillery connected with a lookout sta- was indicted by a grand jury, accused of being tioned at the top of a cliff. Three 150-gallon in league with bootleggers. The case was even- stills, one 20-gallon still, 107 mash barrels, six sacks of sugar, 40 pounds of yeast, plus empty kegs were all seized in the raid. In 1930, the Rocky Mountain News printed an editorial making scurrilous comments about Confiscated still, 1925. Sheriff Walter Johnson both Adams and Jefferson Counties. The writer and his deputies, work- claimed that Adams County was the capital of ing with Federal law foreclosures and Jefferson County was the capi- enforcement, discovered multiple illegal tal of bootleggers, and that citizens of neither liquor stills, mostly lo- county should be allowed into Denver. This cated in remote areas of western Jefferson brought forth a storm of criticism. TheGolden County. This confis- Transcript put the blame right back on Denver, cated still is sitting saying that, near Sheriff Johnson’s residence in Golden, … due to the fact that Denver’s mountain parks awaiting his personal and the many mountain cabins attract a large destruction. Golden History Museum, number of whoopee makers, the residents of the City of Golden, county are unjustly criticized. Dennis L. Potter Collection

Historically Jeffco 2020 57 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

tually dismissed due to lack of evidence, and it The End of the Era was widely believed that he had been framed. But by the early 1930s most Americans were The main witness against him was shot to death sick of Prohibition. It made criminals out of when the bootleggers discovered that he was ordinary citizens, contributed to the rise of or- turning state’s evidence. ganized crime, encouraged violence, and threat- Prohibition had many strong supporters. One ened public health. Enforcement was obviously organization that claimed it stood for honor, a failure. The influence of the Klan was waning decency and the in Colorado due to internal scandals. It was also American way obvious that resumption of the liquor industry was the Ku Klux would help alleviate unemployment during the Klan. In the Great Depression. While the Republicans con- 1920s the Klan tinued to support Prohibition, which was still was immensely popular in rural areas, the Democratic platform powerful in Col- in 1932 supported repeal. Because of this and orado. Governor many other factors, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Clarence Morley the Democrats won the presidency and Con- was a member gress in a landslide in 1932. and so was Mayor In March 1933, one of the first things FDR did Ben Stapleton of as President was to sign a bill allowing for the Denver. The Klan sale of 3.2 beer and light wines. Congress and had its local head- Confiscated still, 1925. two-thirds of the states voted in favor of the 21st quarters in a former dance hall on top of South th Not only were such Amendment, repealing the 18 Amendment stills illegal, they were Table Mountain in Golden. The huge crosses authorizing Prohibition. The failed “noble ex- downright dangerous. burning atop the mountain during Klan rallies In May 1925 Sheriff periment” finally came to an end on December could be seen for miles around, reminding ev- th Johnson, several depu- 5, 1933 when Utah became the 36 state to ties, and the Golden Fire eryone that the invisible empire was watching. ratify the 21st Amendment. Department responded to a large wildfire up The Salvation Army was another organization Today, legislators, hospitals, emergency tech- Coal Creek Canyon. They backing vigorous enforcement of Prohibition. nicians, law enforcement, social workers, and found that it started Evangeline Booth, daughter of the Salvation when a huge liquor society in general must deal with the abuse of still exploded, setting Army’s founder and head of the Salvation Army new harmful substances far more deadly than the surrounding forest in America, said, ablaze. Two women bootleg hooch. New versions of Prohibition are found in a nearby cabin It is wonderful! wonderful! If it should take fifty being enforced or discussed. In this period of were arrested, and Sher- iff Johnson waited in the years to get liquor entirely out of the country, turmoil and uncertainty, perhaps studying the cabin for the return and obliterated from the streets, washed from the record of the Prohibition era can offer some arrest of their husbands. cellars, it would be a thousand times worth the hard-earned lessons from the well-intentioned Golden History Museum, effort. The achievement of prohibition in a coun- follies of history. City of Golden, Dennis L. Potter Collection try organized as this one, is one of the greatest accomplishments of history. Think of the many Works Cited: today who never had fifty cents in their hands, Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Scribner, who now have bank accounts. Think of the many NY, 2010. women who never received a cent from their From Scratch: A History of Jefferson County, Colorado. Members of Jefferson County Historical Commission, 1985. husbands’ wages, since all the money went into James E. Hansen II, “Moonshine and Murder: Prohibition in the rich brewer’s till, who now have a regular Denver,” Colorado Magazine, L.1, 1973. amount to spend for themselves and their chil- Denver Post, Staff Writer, “A Look Back: 80th Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition in Colorado,” 9/26/2013. dren. Why if every one else fought to keep prohi- Golden Transcript, 1/7/1916, 2/3/1921, 3/9/1922, 6/7/1923, bition away, the thousands of reformed drunk- 1/10/1925, 7/23/1925, 10/1/1925, 4/21/1927, 6/16/1927, ards and inebriates would fight to keep it here. 4/25/1929, 4/24/1930, 1/29/1931, 2/19/1931, 12/31/1931.

58 Historically Jeffco 2020 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES How Colorado Led the Way to Votes for All American Women By Bonnie Scudder, Jefferson County Historical Commission

his year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amend- ment to the U.S. Constitution, which grantedT full voting rights to women in every state. Colorado, which had granted full suffrage to women in 1893, played an important role in the national women’s suffrage movement. Suffrage in Colorado When Colorado became a state in 1876, equal suffrage was presented but did not pass. Wom- en were, however, allowed to vote in school elections in Colorado. The Colorado Woman Suffrage Association was formed in 1876, and the following year, a ref- World for the paper, where she advocated wom- “The Awakening,” illustration by Henry erendum on full suffrage for women was held. en’s suffrage, among other topics. Known as the (Hy) Meyer in 1915. National suffrage leaders including Susan B. “Susan B. Anthony of Colorado,” Meredith was Depicts Lady Liberty Anthony joined local suffrage partisans to barn- instrumental in securing full suffrage for wom- striding across the Western states, where storm the state. Former Territorial Governor en in Colorado. women had the right John Evans and other key players supported the to vote, as female Colorado Approves Votes for Women figures in the East effort. However, the referendum was defeated In 1892, the Colorado People’s (Populist) Party reach out to her. by a 2-1 margin; only 28% of the voters in Jef- Library of Congress ferson County approved. was founded with a motto of “Equal Rights to All, Special Privileges to None!” Women’s dele- Suffragists vowed to step up their grassroots ef- gates declared “Equality for all American citizens forts to educate the public (particularly wom- without regard to sex.” en) on the benefits of women’s voting rights. The Panic of 1893 Over the next 15 years, led to a severe drop they organized speeches in silver prices and an and meetings in every extensive economic county in Colorado, depression in Colora- laying the groundwork do. Disillusioned citi- for suffrage to become zens decided, “Let the a reality in the state. women vote; they can’t do any worse than the Ellis Meredith and men have.” others played a vital role in this campaign. On November 7, 1893, Meredith, whose father women’s suffrage was was managing editor of approved by a 55% to the Rocky Mountain 45% margin. Jefferson COLORADO WOMEN ARE CITIZENS banner and County men approved News, was a columnist woman in 1893 suffrage by a higher who wrote A Woman’s Wikipedia percentage (62%) than

Historically Jeffco 2020 59 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

at the Windsor Hotel. Denverite Margaret “Molly” Tobin Brown—humanitarian, phi- lanthropist, preservationist, author, singer, and (perhaps most famously) Titanic survivor and heroine—attended national rallies on women’s rights. As a strong supporter of women’s suffrage, she ran for the U.S. Senate, though was not elected. In Jefferson County, seasonal residents such as Molly Brown and Dr. Rachael Staunton (see sidebar) helped to spread the word in other states. Undoubtedly, many other suffrage supporters did as well, by writing daily letters to their family and friends “back East.” Large billboard advertis- the statewide average (55%). Suffrage organizing Colorado suffrage But the movement had its detractors too. In the ers had achieved their goal, making Colorado support, circa 1916 East there were many anti-suffragist activities. the first state in the union to approve equal suf- Internet: numerous sites Women picketed the White House, with nearly frage for women by popular referendum. 500 arrested. Suffragist prisoners were beaten Colorado Leads the Way and abused. In 1894, Coloradans elected three women to the The 19th Amendment state legislature, the first female legislators in the In 1918, the Suffrage Amendment of 1878 was country. They pushed through numerous laws introduced as the 19th Amendment to the Con- affecting women and children, including wom- stitution. It was passed in the House but lost in en’s minimum wage, child labor and abuse, pure the Senate by two votes. President Woodrow food, creation of juvenile courts, the eight-hour Wilson became a supporter of suffrage that workday, and prohibition of alco- same year. hol (passed statewide in 1916). At least 50% of eligible women voted The next year, several midwestern states granted th in the first elections. full suffrage. At last, on May 19, 1919, the 19 Amendment passed in the U.S. Senate. The Following in Colorado’s foot- amendment, which declares that “the right of steps, other Western states and citizens of the United States to vote shall not by territories began approving suf- denied or abridged by the United States or any frage. Marches, demonstrations, state on account of sex,” granted full suffrage to and referendums supporting suf- Colorado Governor Nel- all states. son Shoup, surrounded frage were held across the nation. Colorado by key supporters, signs women (and some men) continued their grass- However, before becoming the law of the land, document showing the amendment had to be ratified by three- Colorado’s ratification roots efforts to educate citizens, particularly of the 19th Amendment women, on the benefits of full suffrage. fourths of U.S. states (there were 48 states at (1919) the time). Colorado ratified the amendment in Library of Congress Well-known Colorado women who supported December 1919. Finally, in August 1920, when suffrage included Elizabeth “Baby Doe” Tabor, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify, wom- who provided a place for suffragists to meet

Fun Fact The word “suffrage” is not connected to “suffering.” Among its several meanings is the right of voting. The word is derived from the Latin suffrāgium, meaning “vote cast in an assembly, right to vote, decision reached by a vote, influence exerted in support of a candidate or policy.”

60 Historically Jeffco 2020 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES

Jeffco Female Physician was Strong Promoter of Women’s Suffrage A prominent Jefferson County citizen who promoted women’s suffrage was Dr. Rachael B. Staunton of Pine and Denver. Dr. Rachael B. Staunton, who In 1906 Staunton and her lives in Denver, gained a number husband Dr. Archibald of converts to the cause of Staunton relocated from suffrage while visiting during Charleston, W.Va., to Den- the summer in West Virginia ver. In 1918, the Stauntons e an anti-suffrage campaign purchased property in wher southwestern Jeffco, where was being held. At an informal they homesteaded nearly gathering, she was asked to 700 acres and developed the tell of some of the advantages Staunton Ranch. accruing from equal suffrage; The Stauntons kept in close contact with family and friends back East. she was able to relate many Dr. Rachael Staunton regularly visited her relatives there and spoke facts showing the practical at local meetings about the many benefits of full women’s suffrage. om suffrage This type of grassroots effort had resulted in full suffrage for women in benefits esultingr fr Colorado in 1893 and became a strategy that worked on the national in Colorado … When asked if e a suffragist, level as well. she herself wer eplied that she This replica news clipping (right) is from an unidentified article found Dr. Staunton r in the Staunton Collection at the Stephen H. Hart Library at the History considered herself a citizen of Colorado Center. While the newspaper and date are not known, it is likely this event took place between 1916 and 1919. the United States.

Image: Dr. Rachael Hornbrook Bullard Staunton (1869-1946), circa 1899 History Colorado Stephen H. Hart Library

en across the country were granted full suffrage. Works Cited: (Twelve states had not ratified the amendment, Merriam-Webster.com. Scudder, Bonnie E. The Secrets of Elk Creek: Shaffer’s Crossing, and it would take another 64 years for full rati- Staunton State Park, and Beyond. Pine, CO, Elk Creek Publishing, fication to occur.) 2013. “Let the Women Vote! Colorado Women’s Struggle for Suffrage Through the tenacity of countless women and 1876-1920,” Dr. Marcia T. Goldstein. Presentation at the Denver Public Library on 2/29/2020. men over decades of hard work, American Colorado Encyclopedia: “Women’s Suffrage Movement.” women were at last granted the right to vote. National Park Service: “Colorado and the 19th Amendment.” Colorado, as the first state to approve votes for New York Times, “The Roaring 20’s: Flappers / Bootleggers / women by popular referendum, played a piv- Gangsters / Suffragists,” 2020. Biographical sketch of Ellis Meredith, Alexander Street otal role in making that happen. Documents, https://documents/alexanderstreet.com.

Historically Jeffco 2020 61 HISTORICAL ANNIVERSARIES Comfort Food in a Pandemic By Carla Opp, Jefferson County Historical Commission

he popularity of baking homemade We in 2020 have seen shortages on grocery bread, cookies, and other goods dur- store shelves too. From toilet paper to flour, it ing the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic begs the question of not only why toilet paper Tmay not be so different from baking during the but also why flour? Well ... it seems many peo- 1918 influenza pandemic. However, one im- ple have revived the art of bread baking or have portant difference between the two pandemic decided to try their hand at it. eras is that in 1918, there was a world war go- There may be many reasons why baking bread ing on. became so popular during our stay-at-home or- World War I created shortages of many food ders. Perhaps primary among them is that we items in American households since foods were had more time to pursue the process of bread being redirected to nourish the troops. Home- making. Yeast breads entail several steps and re- makers were encouraged to show their patrio- quire time to rise and then bake. tism by using no wheat flour or at least to con- Other likely reasons may be that baking in serve its use. Many recipes substituted or added our own kitchens is something we can control other grains to wheat flour to make bread items. while so many other things are out of our control. Baking and eating baked goods also gives us comfort, in part because it evokes memories of our grandmothers and mothers baking fresh bread. Who can forget the wonderful aroma of bread in the oven floating from the kitchen! Corn Bread with Rye, Barley or Oat Flour Other people may have begun to bake to get back to a simpler life of making things at home. 1 cup cornmeal Whatever your reason … keep on baking! 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup rye, barley or oat flour 1 cup milk This recipe is from 1918. Note that 1 Tablespoon sugar there are no instructions as to what size of pan to use, or what 1 egg a “moderate oven” temperature 5 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder might be. (In today’s terms, it 2 Tablespoons shortening means 350 to 375 degrees F.) Sift dry ingredients into a bowl; add milk, beaten egg and melted shortening. Stir well.

Put into greased pan, allow to stand in warm Works Cited: place 20-25 minutes and bake in a moderate https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/recipes-world- oven 40-45 minutes. war-i-help-conserve-foods-flew-shelves-amid-pandemic- stockpiling-180974679/ “Best War Time Recipes,” Royal Baking Powder Co., New York, Copyright 1918.

62 Historically Jeffco 2020 RECOGNITION Ken-Caryl Ranch Historical Society 2020 Norm and Ethel Meyer Award for Historic Preservation in Jefferson County

he Ken-Caryl Ranch Historical Society (KCRHS) tional documents and videos about the history of the area is the recipient of the 2020 Norm and Ethel Meyer which are available for presentations to school children and Award for its dedication to preserving and promot- on their website. Ting the history of the notable Ken-Caryl The efforts of the KCRHS reach to all as- Ranch in Littleton. The extensive work of pects of the historic relics in the area. For the KCRHS has led to the recognition of example, the Society’s most recent annual not one but five sites listed on the National report mentions efforts in tracking the his- Register of Historic Places. These include: toric apple trees left near the Bradford-Perley • Bradford House III (listed in 1980): house. The Society is justly proud of their

This archeological site preserves the Swallow Hill archeological dig success in propagating six new trees from the oldest known human-made structure KCRHS originals planted in the 1860s. in the Denver Basin. This stone struc- The Jefferson County Historical Commission salutes the -ef ture was found during excavation of a rock shelter near forts of the busy and productive Ken-Caryl Ranch Histori- a sandstone bluff along the hogback. This site has re- cal Society. They are indeed a worthy recipient of the Norm ceived extensive archeological study proving that the and Ethel Meyer Award. area was occupied from about 5,700 years ago until about 1,300 years ago. • Bradford House II (listed in 2001): Another small rock structure which is also preserved and studied by ar- chaeologists may have been a warm season campsite near the hogback. • Ken-Caryl South Valley Archeological District (listed in 2003): The larger archeological area contains rock shelters used by prehistoric peoples from approximately 9,000 to 900 years ago. • Bradford-Perley House (listed in 2015): This structure served as a station house on the Bradford Wagon Road, The Shaffer Barn in 1924 an early toll road which provided access to gold fields Jack Warner during the 1860s Colorado Gold Rush. • John C. Shaffer Barn (listed in 2019): The newest listing recognizes the historic barn on the Ken-Caryl Ranch. Built in the early 1920s, the barn was used to house the award-winning Hereford cattle bred on the ranch. The Society is currently investigating other archeological sites in the area, including a possible grave site. In addition to these nationally recognized efforts, the KCRHS works diligently to communicate with residents of the Ken-Caryl area about the historic sites which surround them. The Society has created a variety of educa- The Shaffer Barn today James Antes

Historically Jeffco 2020 63 RECOGNITION

Jefferson County Hall of Fame

Katherine Lee Craig

Katherine Lee Craig was named to the During her first year in office as State ers and Students, as well as guidebooks Jefferson County Historical Commis- Superintendent, Craig undertook a for educators, such as How to Improve sion Hall of Fame in 2020. Craig was project which had a particularly sig- Rural Schools and Teachers’ Charac- nominated by JCHC member Steve nificant impact. Each year since state- ter Building. Showing another side of Engle because of her dedication to hood, Colorado’s education depart- her writing talents, Craig published a quality education and her focus on the ment issues a publication of Colorado romance novel titled Judge Greyburn individual student. She also represented school laws. Craig wanted to make its and Kathlene Lee, prior to holding equality between genders, decades before contents more helpful to educators, elected offices. nationwide suffrage. and so created a more user-friendly, Katherine Lee Craig died on April 1, annotated version of the tome. 1934. Her body lay in state at the orn in Missouri in the Colorado State Capitol, a fitting spring of 1862, Kather- tribute to this tireless, highly re- ine Lee Craig was raised spected, and popular advocate onB Lookout Mountain by her for teachers and students alike. homesteader parents. Kather- She is buried near her parents in ine—also called Kate and Kit- the historic Rockland Cemetery tie—had two younger brothers. on Lookout Mountain. A large Craig was highly educated for native stone put in place by lo- her day, attending the Universi- cal citizen Strode Ralston marks ty of Colorado, Missouri Valley her grave. College, and the Teacher’s Col- On her death, Craig left vari- lege at the State Normal School ous items to the Colorado State in Greeley—now the University Museum or the Colorado State of Northern Colorado. After Historical Society, including a graduating, Craig taught school powder horn used in the Mexi- at Rockland School on Lookout can War, historic photos, a cruet Mountain, and in public schools stand, a doll cradle, a comforter, in Denver and Salt Lake City. and other articles of historical Women in Colorado were grant- interest. Her will/testament also ed the right to vote in 1893, thus also stated that her manuscripts and Craig was well-known in Colorado essays dealing with historical subjects allowing women to run for elected of- political circles and was a member of fices. Starting in 1904, Craig was elect- be given to the executor, along with numerous clubs and leagues, including $1,000 to have the documents edited ed to her first term as Colorado State serving as Vice President of the Na- Superintendent of Public Instruction. and published, “to stimulate interest in tional Education Association (NEA). the history of Colorado.” (Today this position is called the Com- She was even discussed as a possible missioner of Education and is appoint- candidate for Denver mayor in 1910. Craig willed a parcel of her family’s ed by the State Board of Education.) land to the City of Denver. The land Craig was elected to this post three Craig was also a prolific writer. In her later served as a Girl Scout Camp and more times over the next 28 years. In role as Superintendent of Public In- a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. 1909—between terms as State Superin- struction she wrote many textbooks, Katherine L. Craig Park on Look- tendent—she served as field secretary at including Primary Geography, Craig’s out Mountain is now part of Denver Colorado Woman’s College. Brief History of Colorado for Teach- Mountain Parks.

64 Historically Jeffco 2020 RECOGNITION

Jefferson County Hall of Fame

Linda Kirkpatrick

Linda Kirkpatrick was named to the Jefferson County Histori- Noble Meadow, a scenic and wildlife corridor along High- cal Commission Hall of Fame in 2020. She was nominated by way 74 near Bergen Park. She also assisted in organizing John Steinle, JCHC member, for her energy and enthusiasm the Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT), later becoming its for organizing and funding volunteer community organiza- Executive Director. Linda also helped to coordinate the Ev- tions and for preserving the spectacular landscapes of western ergreen Land Community Coalition in purchasing land for Jefferson County. Buchanan Park and Stagecoach Park. Linda supported and publicized the entire spectrum of Ev- hile Linda Kirkpatrick should technically sport ergreen-area non-profit volunteer organizations through her a “Colorado Transplant” bumper sticker on her Upbeat newspaper; a photo column feature for the Canyon car, she has done so much for her adopted state Courier newspaper; and her webzine called JustAroundHere. Win the 50+ years she has lived Numerous area organizations here, she could rightfully dis- have recognized Linda’s lead- play the “Colorado Native” ership and dedication to her sticker instead. community. The long list of Linda moved from Mont- honors she has earned include: gomery, N.Y., to Colorado in • Jefferson County Sheriff’s 1968. In 1981 she married Commendation John Kirkpatrick and moved to Evergreen, where she quick- • Evergreen Community ly became one of that moun- Service Award tain community’s most ener- • Small Business of the Year getic activists. Award from Evergreen Working with the local volun- Chamber of Commerce teer ambulance service, Linda • Daughters of the Ameri- was instrumental in fundrais- can Revolution Award for ing for land purchase and Excellence in Community construction to build a new Service ambulance facility. She was • Jeffco Action Center Out- also active in fundraising for standing Volunteer Award Mount Evans Hospice and the Bootstraps scholarship and • Lifetime Leadership Award loans program. In the mid- from Leadership Evergreen. 1990s, Linda co-founded Leadership Evergreen, orient- In addition, Linda was named one of the 150 most con- ing residents into an overall picture of the community and tributing citizens in Jefferson County in the book Jefferson grooming them for leadership roles. County Colorado—A Unique and Eventful History, published Linda has been a true leader in land preservation, spear- in 2009. heading the fundraising and logistics to save the 408-acre

Historically Jeffco 2020 65 Guest Contributors for Historically Jeffco 2020

Donna Long Beck Ronda Frazier Donna is a 5th generation Conifer native of Ronda has served as Jefferson County’s Ar- the Long and Fields families. She is active chivist since 2009 and runs the archives solo with the Pleasant Park Grange #156 and (archivists call her a “Lone Arranger”). She the Conifer Historical Society & Museum, also serves on the board of the Colorado- where she has made presentations about Wyoming Association of Museums as their the area and her family’s history. Donna is Archivist/Historian, and in 2018 was editor retired and enjoys constructing and finish- of Historically Jeffco. Ronda proudly hails ing quilt projects started by her mom, who from Wyoming, is an avid reader and lives she lost in 2019. in Arvada with her two chihuahuas.

Karen Land Cranford Andrea Keppers Karen is a native Coloradan (and former Andrea is Curator and Education Special- Miss Colorado) and a resident of Morrison. ist at the Hiwan Homestead Museum in She worked for 12 years in broadcast news Evergreen. A Jeffco native, Andrea sings in and is currently a book narrator for Colo- the Golden Concert Choir, is a docent at the rado Talking Book Library for the Blind. American Museum of Western Art and is a former Jeopardy contestant.

Deborah Darnell Jay Mather Deborah lives in Evergreen and served A Colorado native, Jay is a Pulitzer Prize as Co-chair of History and Plant Teams at winning photojournalist. His 50-year ca- Staunton State Park. She helped exten- reer which began at the Sentinel Newspa- sively to prepare history displays and local pers in the Denver area has taken him to wildflower references for the park’s new assignments throughout the world. Jay’s Visitor Center. current work examines the natural beauty of his home in central Oregon.

Anne Echter Marjorie Rodman Anne was raised in Arvada and married After living on Lower Six Mile Ranch for her high school sweetheart Dave Echter in 10 years, Marjorie and her husband took 1980. She soon after started working in the teaching jobs overseas. They retired to business, and over the decades has worked North Carolina, where Marjorie is writing a in every department in the greenhouse. book about the Phelps pioneers in Colorado. She currently works in the office account- ing area, and especially enjoys sales and working with the store’s “great customers.”

66 Historically Jeffco 2020 Efforts to Quell Pandemic in 1918 Sound Familiar in 2020 In the 2018 issue of Historically Jeffco (pages 20-23), JCHC member Rick Gardner contributed an article about the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic and its effects on Jefferson County and Golden. Following are selected highlights from that article, plus a recent addendum.

In 1918, Jeffco had been receiving very dangerous to the public health, when Americans everywhere poured news of the influenza epidemic for and whereas congregations, or places into the streets to rejoice the end of many months. Especially alarming where people loiter are the principal the war. This opened the door for was that the disease struck indis- means of spreading the disease, and the virus to spread to Golden, when criminately and with devastating Whereas, Governor Gunter has issued a within a few weeks, “scores of cases swiftness. Even some adults who had general order affecting the entire state, of the disease” and several deaths been perfectly healthy in the morn- occurred, forcing the ban to be ing would be dead by night. The flu Therefore be it resolved, that all clamped down again in late No- weakened victims so fiercely that churches, theaters, public schools, vember. The epidemic waned again pneumonia could quickly set in and Sunday schools, general dance halls, during the last half of December. take the victim’s life. private dance halls, lodge rooms, card rooms, and all places where people By February 20, 1919, a third wave That fall, Golden’s City Health Of- congregate or loiter, for any purpose of infection flared up, affecting ficer Louis A. Packard met with whatsoever, be and hereby are ordered adults and, surprisingly, more chil- the State Governor’s office where closed until further notice, and dren than before, though in much he learned about the severity of the milder form. At that time there were disease. Packard instantly requested Be it further resolved that poolhalls about 60 cases in Golden, out of a an emergency session of the Golden and soda fountains shall not be oper- population of 2,135. The authorities City Council on October 7 to dis- ated for the period of the general order. did not put a ban in affect again, nor cuss how to combat its spread. The Golden people are urged to voluntarily would any other citywide health ban Council developed the following quarantine themselves from Denver. be instituted for over a century. resolution for the city’s residents: Go to that city only when absolutely Works Cited: Whereas, There is now an epidemic necessary during the epidemic. Colorado Transcript 10/10/2018, 01/02/2019 of influenza in this county and state, However, the ban’s success was and whereas this disease is a com- derailed by the huge Armistice Day municable or contagious disease, celebration on November 11, 1918,

About the Cover Photos Front cover: J.W. Green Jr. stands next to the old cash register in the store his father founded in 1883 in the small community of Buffalo Creek in Jeffco’s southwestern foothills. The J.W. Green Mercantile is still in operation today, run by the fourth generation of the Green family. See related article on page 2. Jay Mather Photography, 1975

Inside front cover: Hazel Long Fitsimmons, circa 1910, at the telephone switchboard in Clifton House, the home of Charles F. Long in Conifer. This switchboard was used until 1921, when the service was moved to Bailey. See related article on page 16. Donna J. Long Beck, Long Family History Collection

Back cover: William Parfet's favorite dog sits on the running board of a 1937 Chevrolet Roadster in front of the family residence at 923 18th St. in Golden. The car may have been purchased at the nearby Ashton Chevrolet Company, precursor to today’s Stevinson Chevrolet. See related article on page 21. Golden History Museum & Park, City of Golden Collection

Historically Jeffco 2020 67 Boards and Commissions Historical Commission

The Jefferson County Historical Commission (the JCHC) connects people to Jefferson County’s past in three ways:

1. Promote and foster historic preservation in Jeffco Assist property owners with identifying,Boards an designatingd Commis andsion preservings historical sites by providing resources and help with compli- ance and research; and assist County governmentalHistorical Commission entities with developing procedures or guidance for identifying, designating and preserving official historical sites in Jefferson County. Programs: • Landmarks Program: Encourages Jeffco residents to nominateBoar significantds an historicald Co sites,mmis structures,sion or districtss • Norm and Ethel Meyer Award for Historic Preservation:Hi Honorsstor icalthose Commissionwho have preserved valuable historic properties in Jeffco

2. Educate others about the people, places and events that have shaped Jeffco Advance knowledge and inspire curiosity in people of all ages about Jeffco’s diverse and distinctive past; and liaise with local historical societies to share information and resources. Programs: • Historic PreservationBo Symposium:ards and CommisForum forsion learnings and sharing knowledge about Jeffco history • Historically Jeffco Magazine:Annual Histor publicationical Commission that preserves and informs about Jeffco’s rich and captivating history https://www.jeffco.us/3449/Historical-Publications • Special Projects: Most recent project is creating the Judges’ Wall in the Jeffco Courts & Administration Building, honoring judges in District One since 1870

3. Honor those who value and steward Jeffco’s rich heritage Recognize and celebrate the people who support and preserve Jeffco’s invaluable history. Programs: • Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony: Honors selected individuals and groups for their unique roles in preserving Jeffco history • Emeritus Program: Recognizes selected retired JCHC members for their JCHC activities, offices held, and general support of JCHC historical and educational programs

How the JCHC is Supported Contact Us • The Board of County Commissioners appoints volun- JCHC is supported by the Jefferson County Planning & Zoning teers to sit on the Historical Commission; volunteers Division and the Archives Office. equally represent all areas of the county Email: [email protected] • The BCC also allots the JCHC an annual budget to help Mail: JCHC, Planning & Zoning, 100 Jefferson County it carry out its work Pkwy, Suite 3550, Golden, CO 80419 Friends of the Jefferson County Ronda Frazier, Archivist: 303-271-8448; archivist@jeffco. Historical Commission us; www.jeffco.us/county-archives Friends of the Jefferson County Historical Commission is Website: www.jeffco.us/historical-commission a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to funding Facebook: Jefferson County CO Historical Commission preservation of Jeffco’s heritage. Donations to the Friends YouTube: Jefferson County Historical Commission or of the JCHC are tax deductible. youtube.com/channel/UC0t7utpwouwy3OKOsFXBRrA

68 Historically Jeffco 2020 2020 Jefferson County Historical Commission Members

Steve Engle, 2017—Board member Histor- Richard Gardner, 2005—Past President Lee Katherine Goldstein, 2016—Chair. PJ Jones, 2018—Co-Editor, Historically ic Rockland Church & Cemetery. M.A. Public of Golden Landmarks Association. M.A. in Attorney at Fairfield and Woods, PC, in Den- Jeffco. Former marketing/communications History, Artifact Interpretation, University of History from the University of Colorado at ver. Researches and writes about Jefferson director. Nationally published author of Colorado, Denver. Lives in Genesee. Denver. Lives in Golden. County history. Lives in Lakewood. magazine articles. Jeffco Open Space volunteer. Small business owner. Lives in Genesee.

Carla Opp, 2018—Co-Editor, Historically Rita Peterson, 1981—Chair, Hall of Fame Bonnie Scudder, 2015—Chair: Judges’ Richard Scudder, 2017—Chair, Landmark Jeffco. Former Environmental Health Spe- program. Member, Board of Directors, Wall Committee. 5th generation Coloradan, and Preservation Committee. Former cialist with Jefferson County Public Health. Seniors Resource Center. Jeffco native. Lives former teacher, administrator; Ph.D. Professor and Associate Dean in the Has a love of history. Lives in Arvada. in Lakewood. University of Colorado. Author, historian and Daniels College of Business at DU. Ph.D. in resident of Shaffers Crossing in Pine. Educational Technology. Lives at Shaffers Crossing in Pine.

Emeritus Members Robert Briggs, 2009-2011 Milly Roeder, 1995-2013 Erlene Hulsey-Lutz, 1986-2010* Burdette “Bud” Weare, 2003-2012 Nina Kite, 2004-2015 * Deceased Rose Lewis, 2009-2013 Mary Lindey-Hepp, 2010-2016 Commission Staff Norman Meyer, 1986-2010* Ronda Frazier, Archivist Stan Moore, 2004-2008 Renae Hansen, Design and Layout Dave Nelson, 2008-2012 Planning and Zoning Division: Kathryn Ordway, 2006-2011 Brittany Gada Cynthia Shaw, 2010—Vice Chair. Director John Steinle, 2017—Former History of Boettcher Mansion 2000-2018. Founder Education Supervisor and Region Supervisor, Jack Raven, 1997-2011* Justin Montgomery of the Colorado Arts & Crafts Society. M.A., Jeffco Open Space. M.A. Museum & Archival Architectural History & Preservation (Uni- Management, Wright State University (Ohio). versity of Virginia). Lives in Arvada. Lives in Arvada.

County Commissioners Libby Szabo, District 1 (left) Casey Tighe, District 2 (right) Lesley Dahlkemper, District 3 (center) 2020

Planning and Zoning