Issue 41, 2020 Legacy Trades and Businesses Trades Legacy 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 be- tween 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. 2 Historically Jeffco 2020 LEGACY TRADES AND BUSINESSES 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.