Issue 37, 2016 Transportation building on the past—moving us to the future The transition from horse and buggies to automobile transit was not always a smooth one, as this Moffat Tunnel Special Line bus, stuck in a ditch near Arvada in 1939, shows. Arvada Historical Society Front Cover: The Barth Building, built by A.L. Barth in 1898 housed a pool hall, hardware store, grocery and many other businesses, with residents living upstairs. The building was the first two-story structure in Arvada and featured a unique cast-iron storefront. Arvada Historical Society sion. Local school teacher Tom Keefe and his media-savvy son Given all our 2016 progress, introduced us to the concept of geo-caching, a modern ver- this has been a whirlwind year! Starting last winter, with the Gold Line sion of the old-fashioned treasure hunt. Honoring the request commuter rail system about to roll into Arvada and then this year the from the Board of County Commissioners, published author B Line connecting the City of Westminster to downtown Denver’s Bonnie Scudder and a JCHC committee began working on the Union Station, “Transportation” was chosen as our annual theme. The Judges’ Wall to showcase the 1st Judicial District. Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHC) quickly began charting We sowed the seeds to start working more closely with Jeff co its course for the Historic Preservation Symposium, the Hall of Fame Open Space which has three historic properties—the Boettch- and Historically Jeffco. er Mansion, Hiwan Museum and Baehrden Lodge and other Olde Town Arvada seemed a natural place for the Annual Historic Pres- heritage sites—under its watch. Together, we will co-sponsor ervation Symposium—co-hosted with the Arvada Historical Society the 2017 Symposium in Evergreen, with a layered “James Mi- (AHS) and the City of Arvada. Held April 30 at The Rising Church, the chener” approach—think land, people and architecture! th former Methodist Church, 7500 W. 57 Ave., this event was attended Then, it was full steam ahead for our magazine team with Edi- by more than 60 participants from all over Colorado. tor Margaret Chapman and graphic artist Doyle Harrison. We By late spring, JCHC was enhanced by two new members—Lee hope you enjoy this treasure trove of County history, remem- Katherine Goldstein and Leda Thaler. Sarah Rosenberg joined Dennis brances and minutia that you are holding in your hands. Dempsey as a staff liaison from the County’s Planning and Zoning Divi- 2 Historically Jeffco 2016 Contents 2 Conestogas to commuter rail 46 Jeffco Open Space stewards of fuel Arvada development county historic sites by Kim Grant, Arvada Historical by Mary Ann Bonnell, Visitor Services Society Manager, Jefferson County Open Space 5 Olde Town Arvada: Forever “On Track” 48 Jeffco home to Colorado’s oldest fencing club 6 Funiculars fuel fun and tourism by Katy Ordway, Second Place, Adult in Jeffco’s foothills Division, Writer’s Award by Lee Katherine Goldstein 51 Golden sailor recalled on Pearl 10 Where the Westall wreck really Harbor’s 75th anniversary happened by Richard Gardner By Milly Roeder, Third Place, Adult Division, Writers’ Award 53 Jefferson County Archives Celebrating 25 Years 13 Lariat Loop historic and scenic By Ronda Frazier, County Archivist byway www.lariatloop.org, Carole Lomond 56 Researchers: a multitude of resources 16 Journey of Barlow, Sanderson & by Bonnie E. Scudder and Lee Co. Katherine Goldstein, with Dan by Theodora Ciobanu, Youth Essay— Cordova First Place 58 Boettcher Mansion—preserved 17 Wall will record Jeffco judicial for Jeffco history by Cynthia Shaw, Director, Boettcher Published by the Jefferson County by Bonnie Scudder and Dan Cordova Mansion Historical Commission (JCHC) 18 Carol Perricone’s sketches record 60 Is it worth it?—preserving your Chair: Mary Lindsey historic courthouses historic resource JCHC Publications Committee by Bonnie Scudder by Sarah Rosenberg, Planner for Editor: Margaret Chapman Jefferson County Planning and 20 Jeffco judicial origins complex, Zoning Design & Layout: Doyle Harrison political Issue 37, 2016 • ISSN 1532-6047 by Richard J. Gardner 61 Preserving History with Metal The information in this magazine is solely provided by the Detecting 26 Judge Christopher Munch retires by William F. Chapman, Jr. authors. JCHC, the Board of County Commissioners and by Bonnie Scudder the Publications Committee are not responsible for the opinions of authors or the content of their articles. 63 Colorado Railroad Museum 27 The Shaffer family of Jeffco’s Norm and Ethel Meyer Award for Shaffer’s Crossing Historic Preservation in Jefferson by Carolyn “Carrie” Shaffer, First Place, County Writers’ Award 66 Alderfer Ranch House and Barn 29 Shaffer family returns to 2016 Jefferson County Historic With fall in the air, it’s time to reflect on our many accom- Shaffers Crossing Landmark by Bonnie Scudder plishments and to express our gratitude to all our stalwart 68 Arvada Jaycee Hall members (see the inside back cover for everyone’s photos, 34 Colorado Locoweed (Oxytropis 2016 Jefferson County Historic term length and areas of expertise). Special thanks to each lambertii) Landmark by Deborah Darnell and every one of you, especially long-time member Sally 69 Big Red Barn White. We beseech her to keep managing her wonderful 35 Mary Coyle Chase’s Jeffco 2016 Jefferson County Historic Landmark website at jeffcohistory.org despite her imminent move to mountain home integral to upper New York State. Staunton State Park 70 Center for the Arts, Evergreen by Bonnie Scudder 2016 Jefferson County Historic In closing, we’d like to invite each and every one of you to 38 Golden Transcript: 150 years of Landmark jump on the JCHC bandwagon (be it as an official member, all the news 71 Joe Tempel an academic researcher or simply a history buff) in its mis- by Richard Gardner Jefferson County Hall of Fame sion—since 1974—to preserve, protect and celebrate our 43 Golden Transcript: A community rich heritage within Jefferson County. Let’s keep the wheels 72 Jefferson County Historical chronicled Commission turning in order to stay on track! by Glenn Wallace Mary Lindsey and Cynthia Shaw 45 Prohibition Jefferson County Historical Commission Chair/Vice Chair by Richard Gardner Historically Jeffco 2016 1 TRANSPORTATION Conestogas to commuter rail fuel Arvada development by Kim Grant, Arvada Historical Society rom pre-historical times until the present, ticularly for Arvada. The Colorado Central Rail- transportation and mobility have been road was the culmination of William Loveland’s Fimportant to the settlement and develop- dream of a rail connection between Clear Creek ment of Arvada and northern Jefferson County. mines and Denver when he chartered the Colo- Evidence of Native American movement into rado and Clear Creek Railroad Company in and out of the region can be found at Indian 1865. Shortly after the transcontinental railroad Tipi Ring Sites near Arvada, and later Arapaho arrived in Denver in 1868 from the east, the Tribes clearly were present in the region and at Colorado Central began construction to Ralston nearby Denver’s founding. Station and beyond to Golden. Large scale immigration into the area from the In February 1871, Arvada boasted both a post East and Midwest was facilitated in large part by office and a new rail station and was soon “on river transportation and by horseback, wagon the map.” Both the speed and the capacity of the and buggy. “The immigrants used various means railroad greatly increased the number of passen- to cross the eastern plains in the later 1850s and gers and the volume of goods into the area— 1860s. Many rode horseback; and some traveled often in proportion to the actual growth in rail by ox cart, in covered wagons, in mule trains track miles completed. Rail miles in the United and on foot. Some even pushed handcarts and States grew from 30,000 in 1870 to 170,000 in wheelbarrows.” The lengthy Conestoga wagon 1900. Historian Gunther Barth noted that this could move families and larger groups, including rapid form of shipment, coupled with the grow- mining prospectors and merchants, with goods ing industrial capacity of the nation’s factories, and provisions on trips that took weeks or even made possible the importation of building ma- months to complete. Before the arrival of the terials to the developing West and enabled the railroad in the late 1860s, these means were the growth of “instant cities.” Arvada’s first two-sto- primary form of transit into the area. ry structure, the Barth Building (1898), with its With the arrival of the railroad in Colorado, cast iron storefront manufactured in Cincinnati, things began to change quickly and more par- quite convincingly makes this point. With the The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railway provided important commercial links between the foothills and mountain communities and the Denver metro area. Arvada Historical Society 2 Historically Jeffco 2016 TRANSPORTATION 1904 incorporation of the town, Arvada’s status as a growing regional market was well underway. John Malden Banks served as the station agent for the railroad from 1913 until 1946, during which time the line was used to haul freight to the community and mail to the Arvada Post Of- fice. Shortly before incorporation another significant transportation development arrived in 1902 in the form of the electric streetcar—the Denver Interurban—from downtown Denver. Many of Denver’s historic commercial districts and popu- lar neighborhoods first emerged as key stops on the Denver Tramway Company’s (DTC) expansive streetcar network. At its height, the FasTracks light rail and commuter rail network, Station agent John DTC owned more than160 miles of track and Banks served the including Arvada’s Gold Line, often traverses Arvada Depot from operated more than 250 streetcars.