Summer rg88 Jistoriralla ----tffro PUBLISHED BY THE JEFFERSON COUNTY HISTORICAL COMMISSION Volume I, Number I, Summer Ig88 PRESIDENTS MESSAGE ISSUE ONE SUMMER 1988 By: Dorothy Lombard The Jefferson County Historical Commission sends greetings to the recipients of Historically Jeffco published bian­ this publication. One of the goals of the Commission is to provide information to nually in the summer and winter by persons and to organizations interested in the history of Jefferson County, Colorado. the Jefferson County Historical Com­ In 197 4 a need was felt for an umbrella group to coordinate the historical activities mission. of the County and to act as a liaison with National, State, and local historical Box 659 organizations. Hence, the Commission was formed and adopted by the Board of Morrison, Colorado 80465 County Commissioners. Other than the above activities, local history is recorded, sites of historical value is designated and historical programs are conducted by the Jefferson County Commissioners Commission. District 1 Rich Ferdinandsen In 1976 the first Festival of the West was organized and sponsored by the Historical District 2 Marjorie Clement Commission and continued as a project until it became self supported. District 3 John Stone The Jefferson County Hall of Fame was originated in 1979 with honors having been bestowed annually upon two residents of the County who have made outstanding Jefferson County Historical Com­ contributions to its history; one living and one dead. mission Through the Commission's efforts many places have been accepted for recognition on the National Register of Historic Places and/ or Centennial Sites. District 1 A history book of Jefferson County titled From Scratch was published in 1985 by Jane Gardner the Commission culminating several years of research by members, both past and Ester Harkness present. Ruth Richardson Marcetta Lutz - Historian Dorothy Lombard- Chairperson District 2 Sharon Carr Vi Hader Irma Wyhs Erlene Hulsey - Secretary Jean Rogers Enid Thompson District 3 Mary Bindner ON THE COVER Dennis L. Potter- Vice Chairman Mount Vernon Ranch House lived in the house all his life. To this day Rita Peterson it remains in the Matthews family. Beth Pratt- Treasurer Mount Vernon was the homesite of Erected originally as a general store, Charlotte McCashen Robert Williamson Steele, Governor of roadhouse, inn, post office and saloon, Norm Meyer the provisional Territory of Jefferson it was the first Wells Fargo Express Jamee R. Chambers ( 1859-1860), from which the Territory Station in this part of the Country and of Colorado was created on February was listed as a stage stop until after 1885. Editor 16, 1861. At times immigrants lined up for two Dennis L. Potter Explorers and gold seekers heading miles at this toll station. out of Denver for the mountains made A record of this structure has been Publisher their first change of horses at the mouth made and deposited for permanent Brook Trout Press of Mount Vernon Canyon. One of the reference in the Library of Congress. It Golden, Colorado first structures built at this site was was the first site in Jefferson County to Mount Vernon House, constructed in be list~d on the National Register of Photographs 1860 by George M. Morrison, a stone Historic Places on November 20, 1970. Colorado Historical Society cutter from Montreal. Frank Matthews It was torn down in 1965 to make room Arvada Historical Society arrived in Colorado in 1868 and soon for Interstate 70. A marker now stands Jefferson County Historical Society after 1870 purchased Mount Vernon on its site at Matthews-Winters Park at House; his son John was born there and I70 and Highway 26. 1 ARVADA'S MAIN STREET By: Marcetta R. Lutz Every town, in it's beginning stages, had a umain street". This was the street where the chief businesses were located, and where people congregated to keep up with the daily happenings. The small village of Arvada consisted of nine blocks and was developed on the com­ bined lots of B.F. Wadsworth and L.A. Reno. Arvada was the name given to the town by Mary Wadsworth, who named it for her brother-in-law, Hiram Arvada Haskin. The first plat for Arvada was filed in 1870 so that the Colorado Cen­ tral Railroad could leave mail for the small community. The Post Office was located in the Wadsworth cabin on the main wagon road through town. And so it was that the name given to the road was ((Railroad Street.1 Twenty years later Railroad Street had developed into a much more invit­ Grandview Avenue looking west in 1905. ing roadway. A double row of cotton­ wood trees were planted on each side of The first major development on Although the Avenue was beautifully an irrigation ditch. Additional homes Grandview Avenue was digging the landscaped in these early days, the were built and great pride was taken in ucut" under the Colorado and Southern streets were of dirt and the sidewalks landscaping the grounds. In the distance Railroad tracks and Grandview Avenue were either dirt or board planks. By were the Rocky Mountains, often cov­ in 1902.4 Thus, an underpass was built 1908 the Town Board passed an ordi­ ered with snow, which completed the for the Denver and Northwestern Rail­ nance forbidding the use of wooden panorama. The scene was breath taking road and Interurban which ran north­ sidewalks. Vitrified brick or cement and therefore the _street deserved a more west of Leyden. A trestle or bridge was walks were recommended within the appropriate name. Reno and W ads­ b uilt over these tracks and became part Town limits.7 worth changed the name to uGrand of Grandview Avenue.5 The streets were another matter. The View Avenue" in the 1890 plat of The tramway then became the main Town had may other pressing problems Arvada.2 It was spelled as two words, form of transportation to and from to solve before attention could be fo­ giving each word equal emphasis. This Denver. To get to Arvada passengers cused on improving the streets. In the seemed to perfectly describe the entire were unloaded south of the underpass interim, townspeople sprayed the streets community's feeling for their umain and climbed the steep steps to Grand­ with water to control the dust and street". view Avenue. Townspeople were in­ dragged them to remove muddy ruts. In Some years after the incorporation of censed that tourists, riding the tramway, this farming community horses con­ Arvada in 1904, Grand View was inter­ neither had a glimpse of the ugrand tinued to be used which necessitated changeably spelled as one or two words.3 view" or of Arvada. By 1916 the Denver hitching posts and a public watering Although it was never legally changed, it Interurban Company built a spur which trough. When Arvada's water system became spelled as one word as a rna tter took passengers to Arvada Station at was established in 1910 the town pump of convenience. Grandview and Vance Streets.6 was replaced with public drinking foun­ tains.8 One was located at the corner of Wadsworth and Grandview Avenues and the other was at the top of the 1 Jefferson County Plat Book 59 , page 5. tramway steps. 2 Arvada Historical Society, Waters of GJld z87o-z9B<J , 4 Arvada Historical Society, More Than GJld, z87o­ Arvada Heritage Printers, Arvada, Colorado, 1973, pp. I904, Johnson Publishing Company, Boulder, Colorado, 39. 1976, pp. 87. 7 First Minute Book of Arvada. Ordinance No. 24, 3 Notice of Incorporated Town, Jefferson County 5 Ibid., pp. 88. Arvada Historical Archives. Court Records, August 16, 1904. 6 The Am:ula Enterprise, December 6, 1916. 8 The Arwda Enterprise, October 12, 1910. 2 with ornamental poles and street lights. The wagon scales were also removed from several store fronts giving Grand~ view Avenue a modern and updated appearance.13 Not only the citizens of Arvada, but the State Highway Commission encour ~ aged the completion of Grandview Ave~ nue <<in a manner befitting an important State Road". Four years later the Arvada Town Board wrote a contract for a 20 foot wide strip of cement to pave the remainder of East Grandview Avenue. The completion date for the project was scheduled for October 17, 1925, a day which prompted Arvada's grand cele~ bration known as the Arvada Harvest Festival. Heralds for the completion of Grand~ view were the Boy Scol}tS of Troop 67. Denver and Northwestern Railroad approaching the completed Grandview Cut in Arvada in 1904. They were given permission to drill holes along the Avenue and to install poles and flags. Not to be outdone, the Ku Klux Klan installed a 56 foot flag Grandview Avenue was the scene for the State approved a road connecting pole in the center of Grandview at East many parades, social gatherings and fes~ Arvada to DenverY The route used was First Street (Webster). At the base of tivals. The Community Club put on a Berkley (46th Avenue), Graves Avenue the pole was a circular ledge wide enough Strawberry Festival in 1911.9 This was (Marshall~ Lamar) to the Arvada City to sit on. The pole was an obstruction to done as a commercial venture to interest limits at Grandview. Arvada was jubilant motorists which resulted in several acci~ surrounding communities in the advan~ to have a year~round paved road con~ dents. In 1930 the pole was removed for tages of trading with Arvada. It as said necting their Town to the largest city in safety reasons and was installed in that 10,000 people attended the Festival Colorado. It was expected the Town Mcllvoy Park.