Denver Cactus Club members leased Lookout Mountain land from private owners of the Rilliet Park Association to establish a “natural amphitheater” for summer productions from 1919 to 1931. Members volunteered to build picnic tables, a “Cactorium” shack for storage, crude seating for the audience, and “special effects” within the forest next to a small stream. The privately owned area was accessed off Lookout Mountain Road on Krestview Road.
The Rilliet Park Association donated a “conservation easement” of 273.5 acres to the Clear Creek Land Association on December 29, 1997. This protects the land, including the Cactus Club site, from future development in perpetuity in its present natural, undeveloped, primitive, open space condition.

This ditch is located in Water District # 7, and the Priority dates from March 2, 1863. Claimant in 1936 was John Calabrese. It is sometimes called Ramboz Ditch, probably because of the proximity of their headgates and the fact that the headgates had to be moved from time to time because of the area’s sandy soil and floods. Previous adjudication was October 9, 1895.

Henry D. Calkins purchased 320 acres in 1873. More land was acquired to the west, where a reservoir, Calkins Lake, was built for irrigation. H. D. Calkins helped build Lathrop Elementary School in School District No. 23, which his son John attended. Later John farmed and raised stock at this site. Today the farm, Calkins Lake and Lathrop School have been developed into Far Horizons Subdivision. The school was moved and converted into a temporary classroom in 1956. Parr Elementary School and Far Horizons Park have been developed on the former Henry D. Calkins Farm.

The 1867 church is one of the earliest examples of Gothic Revival style architecture on the Front Range. It represents an introduction of this architectural style into Colorado by an unknown architect. Upon the death of Bishop Randall, the congregation pledged “That we shall ever consider the church building of our parish as a monument of his generous, untiring labors, and will, with God’s help, endeavor upon our part to carry out the devoted ideas of its founder.” This property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (5JF420) on March 3, 1995.

March 8, 1884, Camp Bird mine has been surveyed and recorded.

The ammunition igloo at Camp George West was constructed in 1940 with funds from the Works Project Administration (WPA). The igloo is located near the base of South Table Mountain, north of the Camp George West Historic District and is separated from the district by large open areas used for military training and as a parade ground. Constructed of concrete and local stone, it was used for arms storage. George H. Merchant was the architect for the 562 square foot building. Added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 1993 (5JF.843).

Designed by Lieutenant Frank J. Ardourel and constructed between 1933 and 1935. General Neil W. Kimball conceived the idea for the amphitheater. It consists a horseshoe shaped seating area bounded by stone rubble walls with wall buttresses. Concrete steps lead to the amphitheater seating area. Three-foot aisles of grooved concrete runs through the center of the seating area. Benches are in long rows with stone rubble base topped by concrete slab seats. The benches are about one foot wide, with about three-foot dirt rows. The projection booth is a low stone building in the center of the seating area with a flat roof and a rectangular window facing the stage. At the southern end of the seating are a curved stone retaining wall and sloped ramps. Seating is stepped downward. The upper portion of the amphitheater has no seats. The stage area is in ruins and has metal pipe and barbed wire around it. In 1950, the stage was converted to ammunition storage. The amphitheater was built by members of the transit labor camp housed at the post 1933-1935. The amphitheater was a relief project using state funds to provide employment for the transient workers housed at Camp George West by the State Relief Organization. In August 1934, the transient camp numbered between 250 to 500 homeless men. Mules hauled the rocks from South Table Mountain to the site on rock boats. In 1935, the “Denver Post” reported that transient workers worked for 21 meals and $1 per week. When the amphitheater was completed, movies were shown every night during training, and people from the local community of Pleasant View were invited to attend. Before the movies, band concerts were held. Unfortunately, the site of the amphitheater was infested with rattlesnakes. Moviegoers arrived with forked sticks to remove the snakes and snake alerts occurred during film showings. Within a short period of time, the 2500 seat amphitheater was no longer in use. The Colorado Amphitheater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 1993 (5JF.842.1)

Two-lane bridge over Lena Gulch in the north central section of Camp George West was constructed in 1938 as a Works Project Administration (WPA) project. Architect Frank Ardurel designed this bridge with its reinforced concrete slab deck and split fieldstone abutments with thick mortar. The roadway is 20′ with coursed stone walls higher towards the center of the bridge where the land drops off beneath. There is a layer of projecting field stones cemented to the top of the bridge walls. Metal railings flank the bridge deck. The total length of the bridge and its approaches is approximately 140′. The bridge separately spans Lena Gulch and an unnamed tributary to that stream.

One-lane bridge over Lena Gulch in the northwest quadrant of Camp George West constructed in 1940. Designed by the architect George H. Merchant, this bridge was a Works Project Administration (WPA) project. The bridge abutments are composed of roughly split basaltic fieldstone laid in courses with concrete mortar. Side walls of the bridge are flared, rounded, and tapered. The tops of the bridge walls have a flat layer of concrete. The deck of the bridge is concrete and has a 10′ roadway. There is a 3′ sidewalk on the east with round metal railings.

This bridge was constructed in 1941 at Camp George West with funds provided for public works by the Works Project Administration (WPA). The two lane bridge is in the northeast quadrant of Camp George West over an unnamed tributary of Lena Gulch. The bridge is composed of reinforced concrete and spans 25 feet.

Built in 1917 as Camp George West’s stop for the Denver & Intermountain Railroad (tramway line #84 in the future). It is a one-story, open stone shelter with a gabled roof and exposed rafters in the bungalow style. “Camp George West” sign is on the roof’s peak.

This one-story building of 252 square feet was built in 1922. Built in the bungalow style, it has a front gabled roof with overhanging eaves and exposed rafters. Front gable extends over an open concrete apron and has exposed post truss system supported by battered stone piers. Similar exposed truss on northern elevation. Walls of the building are composed of coursed, un-split fieldstone. The two entrances on the facade have lintels of stones placed vertically and are flanked by windows. The building is significant as a well preserved representative of an early filling station.

The c. 1924 firing range is located northwest of the principal concentration of buildings at Camp George West on the southern edge of the installation, the firing lines are oriented eastward and consist of the 600 yard line (furthest to the south), the 500 yard line, 300 yard line, and 200 yard line (furthest to the north), with distances measured relative to a target butt which was located to the north on South Table Mountain. The lines are constructed of concrete, approximately 340 feet long and one foot wide, flush with the ground on the side of the shooter and about a foot above the ground on the side towards the target. The 600 yard line is intact, while the remaining three are missing segments where a dirt road and/or channelized drainage cuts through the lines. The target butt was removed in the 1980s.
The parcel on which the existing firing lines are located was acquired by the State Militia in 1908. Firing lines and a target butt were in place by 1918 and reconstructed in 1924.
The rifle range was utilized during summer encampments of the Colorado National Guard during the 1920s and 1930s. During World War II the 757th Military Police Battalion used the range.

This 310-square-foot, one-story, front gable, single car garage with split stone walls was built in 1940 as a Works Projects Administration project.

This 319-square-foot, one-story, front gable, frame, single car garage was built in 1938. It was built as a Works Progress Administration project.

This 319-square-foot, one-story, front gable, frame, single car garage was built in 1940. The building was a Works Progress Administration Project.

Built in 1940, these two one-story front gable single car garages have stucco walls with narrow cornerboards. They were a Works Projects Administration project.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this 308 sq. ft. vernacular masonry building. Built in 1937, this small one-story building has a pyramided hipped roof with wood shingle roofing. The walls are composed of basaltic stone rubblework on a concrete foundation. The central entrance is topped by a pediment with a wide concrete lintel and is flanked by large window openings. The concrete sill course projects slightly from the building. The gasoline pumps at the southeast and northeast corners with the grease rack adjacent to the building’s west side. In 1935, the War Department undertook a program of motorization, converting from horses and wagons to trucks. Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds were used to build this structure in 1937.

This stone and concrete gate was built c. 1930. Located on the west side of the entrance to the southern portion of Camp George West. It is composed of fieldstone rubblework consisting of two stone pillars connected by a Tudor shaped arch. The pillars with pyramided tops are approximately nine feet tall and the arch extends six feet between the pillars. A low, curved wing wall extends from the gate in a northwesterly direction toward South Golden Road. At the end of the wall is a stone pillar with a pyramided top seven feet tall. The top of the wing wall has a concrete cap. Partially wrapping around the Denver & Intermountain Railroad waiting station, the wall may have been intended as a protective barrier for passengers from vehicular traffic on South Golden Road.

Designed by the Denver District Corps of Engineers, this 114 sq. ft. vernacular wood frame building was built in 1943. It has horizontal board siding and a shed roof with overhanging eaves. The paneled and glazed wooden door is off-center and six-over-six light windows with plain wood surrounds. Built by the Army as a gate house in association with the facility being utilized as a training facility for the 757th Military Police Battalion.

Built in 1941 with State permission for the Golden Gun Club shooting range. The state purchased it in 1948. It was made of unusual handmade concrete blocks embedded with stone. The one-story, 644 sq. ft., side-gabled roofed building has a brick chimney with half timbering on the gable ends.

Built in 1940 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, this one-story, hipped roof building has stone walls. The central projecting front entrance has a flat stone arch. There are multi-light casement windows with flat arches and cement sills. The structure was designed by George H. Merchant now houses military police offices.

Built in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, it has always served as the post headquarters. It is a one-story, 3847 sq. ft. building with a steep pitched hipped roof with a main bay and wings. It features a segmental arch central entrance with stone vousoirs and stuccoed pediment with the state seal. There are multi-light casement windows throughout the structure. The west wing has a chimney and arched shed roof entrance. On the east is a frame addition.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this 1938, 3468 sq. ft. one-story building composed of roughly split basaltic stone. The vernacular masonry building has a projecting, gabled entrance bay which intersects the central gabled bay which has gabled wings extending to the east and west. Entrance bay has stucco and half timbering in the upper gable end, as well as the symbol of the Colorado National Guard Military Academy. Facade entrance has a segmental arch and surround of narrow bands of evenly coursed stone. Large windows flanking the entrance have flat arches and concrete sills. The east wing has a center door on gable end and a wooden stoop. The west wing has a shed frame bay with horizontal board siding, four-light windows, and panel and glazed door. The rear of the building has a projecting gable bay with the center entrance similar to the front of the building. It has a raised concrete foundation and a stone chimney. This building was completed as an infirmary for Camp George West in 1938 with Works Progress Administration (WPA) funds.

Architect G.H. Merchant designed this 581 sq. ft, one-story building composed of a main gabled section and lower, inset gabled wing on the east. Built in 1936, the building’s walls are composed of polygonal, basaltic rubblework, with squared stones at the corners of the building. The Federal Emergency Relief and Works Progress Administration financed the building’s construction.

Built in 1940, this small, 140-square-foot, one-story building with a hipped roof has walls composed of basaltic stone rubblework. The structure is attached to Building #53 by a frame addition. The building was erected as a Works Projects Administration project.

Architect G.H. Merchant designed this 1610-square-foot, one-story building with a gabled roof. Built in 1934, the main building is composed of basaltic stone rubblework. Frame, shed roofed addition with double door entrances on west. The building is associated with construction funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

Built in 1925, this small one-story building has a gabled roof with overhanging eaves, exposed rafters, and a gabled roof vent. It has stuccoed frame walls atop a concrete foundation. The central entrance has a paneled wood door with a screen at the bottom and six-pane sunlight on the north and south sides with bars. This building is significant for its association with the improvement of the Colorado National Guard facilities at Camp George West during the 1920s. The 161 sq. ft. building was used as a magazine.

Designed by the Quartermaster at Fort Sam Houston, this 2722 sq. ft., one-story, gabled structure was built in 1941. This vernacular, masonry mess hall was constructed by the Works Projects Administration (WPA). In 1943, the U.S. Army added a rear addition.

Designed by the Quartermaster at Fort Sam Houston and modified for Camp George West by George H. Merchant, this one-story, 1430 sq. ft., front gabled, vernacular, masonry building was constructed in 1936. It was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and is one of 17 mess halls built in an east-west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston and modified for Camp George West by George H. Merchant, this one-story front gable roofed, vernacular masonry, 1430 sq. ft building was built 1936. Constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), this building was one of 17 mess halls built in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston, this one story front gable roofed vernacular masonry 1430 sq. ft. building was built in 1927. This building was one of 12 mess halls built in 1927 in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston, and modified for Camp George West by George H. Merchant, this one-story, front gable roofed vernacular masonry 1430 sq. ft. building was built in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), this building was one of 17 mess halls built in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston, this one-story front gable roofed vernacular masonry, 2772 sq. ft. building was built in 1927. This building was one of 12 mess halls built in 1927 in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston and modified for Camp George West by George H. Merchant, this one story, front gable roofed vernacular masonry 1430 sq. ft. building was built in 1936. This building was one of 17 mess halls built in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the Quartermaster at Fort Sam Houston, this one-story, front gable roofed, vernacular, masonry, 1430 sq. ft. structure was built in 1927. This building was one of 12 mess halls built in 1927 in an east-west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston, this one-story, front gable roofed vernacular masonry 1430 sq. ft. building was built in 1927. This building was one of 12 mess halls built in 1927 in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston and modified by George H. Merchant, this one-story, front gable roofed vernacular masonry 2772 sq. ft. building was constructed in 1936. This was one of 17 mess halls built in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston and modified for Camp George West by George H. Merchant, this one-story, front gable roofed vernacular masonry 1430 sq. ft. building was built in 1936. This building was one of 17 mess halls built in an east west row across the post and was a Works Progress Administration Project.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston, this one-story, front gable roofed vernacular masonry 1430 sq. ft. building was constructed in 1927. This building was one of 12 mess halls built in an east west row across the post.

Designed by the quarter master at Fort Sam Houston and modified by George H. Merchant, this one-story, front gable roofed vernacular masonry 1430 sq. ft. building was constructed in 1941. These buildings were funded by the Works Progress Administration and were last the mess halls built at the post. They are to the north and separated from the post by other mess halls.

Designed by the US Corps of Engineers, this one-story vernacular wood frame side gable roofed 737 sq. ft. building was constructed in 1943. The building was erected by the US Army as an orderly room for the 757th Military Police Battalion.

Architect Harrison W. Wellman Jr. designed the 7-foot-wide, by 250-foot-long pedestrian overpass under South Golden Rd., connecting the north and south portions of Camp George West. The concrete lined passage way consists of steps, sloping floors, and a level middle portion. Entrances on either end are wedge shaped and composed of split fieldstone. It was constructed in 1934 under the Civil Works Administration. In the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, the north end was sealed with concrete blocks, a ventilating piece was added to the northern entrance structure and steel doors to the southern end to convert the underpass to a makeshift fall-out shelter complete with emergency provisions, a generator and other supplies.

This small, one-story wood frame 50 sq. ft building was constructed in 1927 by the federal government for the camp water supply. The pump was later used in association with the post irrigation and swimming pool.

Built in 1931, this one-story, side-gable roofed building has a small intersecting wing on the northeast with overhanging eaves and exposed rafters. Walls are composed of stone rubblework on a concrete foundation. The double door entrance on the southern elevation has paneled wooden doors with a single door entrance to the right. Windows are one-over-one light double-hung, with flat arches and concrete sills and lintels. There is a stone chimney at the southeast corner. This building was erected as a Quartermaster Supply Building by the federal government and filled the vitally important role of storing supplies to be sent to local guard units and to stock the post.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this one-story 1855 sq. ft. English/Norman cottage built in 1934. It has walls of basaltic stone and has a multiple gabled roof with clipped gables. The building stone was quarried on southern Table Mountain and the construction was funded by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. Residents housed one of the officer caretakers who resided at the post.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this one-story, 1831 sq. ft. English/Norman cottage, built in 1937. It has walls of basaltic stone from south Table Mountain and a complex roof lined with central hipped portion and intersecting gables and clipped gables. It was built with funds from the Works Progress Administration and housed one of the officer caretakers who resided at the post.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this one-story, 2050 sq. ft. bungalow built in 1938. The dwelling has cut basaltic stone walls quarried from south Table Mountain with a clipped front gable roof and lower intersecting gables alongside elevations. The construction was funded by the Works Progress Administration and housed one of the post’s caretaker officers.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this one-story, 1827 sq. ft. bungalow built in 1938. The structure has cut basaltic stone walls quarried from South Table Mountain, a gabled roof with intersecting gables on side elevations, wall buttresses and an off-center porch inset under the eaves. Construction was funded by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and housed on of the post’s officers.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this one-story, 1711 sq. ft., cross gabled, stone building. Built in 1937 as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, it features decorative beams, wraparound porches with stone pillars and walls, multi-light windows, a stone chimney, and wood shingle roofing. In 1948, it was converted to living quarters.

Rifle Range was the original name of the Colorado National Guard encampment now known as Camp George West. It was named so due to its origin as the guard’s rifle range in 1898.

A one-story, vernacular wood frame, 1379 sq. ft. building constructed in 1925. The building was part of the storage facilities on the post, housing small arms and ammunition.

These c. 1932 stone and concrete gates flank the roadway entrance into the southern portion of Camp George West and are composed of fieldstone rubblework with stone pillars connected by a stone arch. The pillars away from the roadway have pyramidal tops which extend above the arch. Pillars next to the roadway are 10 to 12 feet high. The arch extending between the pillars is approximately 6-1/2 feet in length.

Built in 1923, this is a one-story vernacular wood frame building with a gabled roof with overhanging eaves and exposed rafters covered with corrugated iron roofing. Frame walls with drop siding on the south and pressed metal siding resembling brick on the east, west, and north. Opening for the overhead doors have been covered up on the south and single entry doors have been added. It has square windows with wood surrounds. The west elevation has large overhead garage door flanked by two six-light windows. Three pairs of six-light windows on the north. The 1213 sq. ft. building sits on a concrete foundation. The building was constructed by the federal government as a storage facility for Camp George West in 1923. In 1941, as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, the building was moved from the north side of the camp to the south side, its present location. In 1953, the building was remodeled for use as a fire station and overhead garage doors were added. The garage doors have been filled in and the building is once again used for storage.

Architect George H. Merchant designed this 50′ x 90′ rectangular concrete outdoor swimming pool. It was built in 1936 with funds from the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). It had a shallow depth of 3′ to an 8′ deep end and was surrounded by an 18″ narrow wall. An “L”-shaped concrete bench is located to the north and west of the pool. The pool has been abandoned and in disrepair since the 1960s.

Poured in the 1930s, these flat concrete pads, square or rectangular in shape and of various sizes, contained circular holes into which tent poles were inserted for the erection of tents during summer training encampments of the Colorado National Guard. Approximately 400 pads originally. New construction during the 1960s and 1970s resulted in the removal of most of the pads which were trucked to gullies and dumped in the northern part of the installation.

Originally built in 1943 as a theater and chapel, its present use as an auditorium and classrooms. The structure can seat 500 in its 4284 sq. ft. The frame wall building has many windows and a tall brick chimney stack at its northeast corner.

Built in 1922, the 50′ tall water tower has four metal legs and braces. It is a tapered square tower with yellow/black checked design on a 20,000 gallon tank. The frame heater house within the legs has been removed. It served as the southern camp’s water tower.

The first land utilized for this property was purchased from Moses Wyman on Dec. 14, 1906. He was paid $4000 for 75 acres. This area has been added to considerably until now the property contains 670 acres. The encampment was originally called the Colorado National Guard Rifle Range. It was established as a permanent camp of instruction and served as a training camp in World War I. Cavalry was stationed at the camp until it was phased out in 1929 for mechanized artillery. It was officially designated “Camp George West” on May 1, 1934, by order of Colorado’s Adjutant General, Neil West Kimball, grandson of George West, a Golden pioneer newspaperman who founded the Golden Transcript in 1866. Many people remembered the camp as the headquarters for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The 74 buildings on the property are of all descriptions. The older buildings are washed cobblestone, the newer ones of various types of construction. The facility is presently used by numerous state agencies, plus the Colorado National Guard. This property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (5JF145) on February 11, 1993.

Original name of Pine Gulch.

The school was named for Bertha E. Campbell who served as teacher and principal in the Jefferson County Schools for 32 years. Campbell School was built in 1963.

This was a subdivision of Buffalo Creek Park Company, established 1903.

Lakewood’s only remaining stage stop is a white rectangular building on the crest of Old South Kipling Road. It was home to the Carmody family for over 55 years. Lawrence Carmody from County Kerry, Ireland and his bride Mary, from Count Cavan, Ireland moved to the place after their marriage in 1919. The 320 acres that the Carmody’s eventually owned had a number of previous owners. Both the Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific railroads claim title holders along with William McClellan of the stage coach company. In 1878, the land became part of the large farm holdings of the Kendrick family. Ernest J. Obenhaus, a retired policeman also owned a portion of the Carmody land. The Carmody family had the only phone in the area up until WWII. The senior Carmody opened a dairy farm on Green Mountain. In the summer the highlight for the family was the annual picnic held by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish fraternal organization. Carmody Junior High, north of the old home, is named for the long-time family.

This building was originally a mortuary called Chapel of the Angels. Around 1992, it was converted to Cathedral of the Rockies, which lasted here approximately 5 years. Around 1996, it reverted back to a mortuary when it was purchased by Jeffrey Newcomer, and became part of the factory-direct Newcomer Mortuary chain that for a time included Woods Mortuary in Golden.

This peak was named for its similarity to a cathedral in design. The formation is a well known local landmark.

In 1955 R.B. Stevenson & Company operated this open pit mine. Principle products were uranium ore, pitchblende, and some carnotite. Ore occurs in an upturned strata of sandstone which dips to the west about six degrees. Two employees at this time.

Name source unknown.

The Central Firehouse, constructed of sandstone, was one of three volunteer fire houses in Golden. It later housed the City Hall offices and now houses the public restroom.

This grange was the first one organized in Colorado. They met in the school house. The present location would be identified as 7101 West 38th Avenue. The grange was named for the mythical Greek Goddess of Grain, Ceres. Most appropriate for Wheat Ridge.

Operator Harvey A. Cervi. Work began on August 30, 1957, on this uranium prospect. Some 2,500 dozer cuts have opened up the land, averaging six feet in depth. Also extensive exploration drilling has been done.

This rock formation was named for the resemblance of two large chairs;also called “King and Queen Thrones.” This was a very popular picnic spot until the U.S. Forest Service closed the access road in the early 1990s. It still can be reached by foot.

The barn is a small, two-room structure with a loft which was probably used for hay storage (loft door) at one time. Some glass windows, others have been boarded up. The barn is believed to have been constructed 1910-1920. It may have been used at one time by a Mr. Dunn for bootlegging activities. The barn is currently being used as storage for the Chambers family (owners).

Located in 1883 by D.H. Dargin and by March 1884 shaft down 100 foot. Ore has iron carbonates.

A new North Lakewood Grade School was built in 1947 at 20th Avenue and Hoyt Street, later converted to other educational uses, such as English as a second language, also G.E D. testing.

Name Source unknown

Located three blocks north of Ken Caryl Avenue on South Simms Street, this 35-acre site next to the Meadows Golf Course is part of the Jefferson County R1 School District. It opened in 1987 for grades 9-12 with a capacity of 2,040. The school was named after Issac W. Chatfield, who was a lieutenant in the Union Army during the Civil War. In 1870 he bought 720 acres of land at the confluence of the South Platte River and Plum Creek. Chatfield farmed this land until he moved in 1879.

This building was long, narrow, and reminiscent of a cheese box or a match box. It was a one-story frame building with a large stove in the center of the room. It was built in 1900 and used until 1917. The building is gone, with the foundation intact.

This key structure in the Denver Water System is on the South Fork of the South Platte River approximately 48 miles from Denver by way of the River. This masonry dam was completed late 1904.The Denver Water Board bought the lake and dam in 1918 from a group of Denver business men. It was named for Walter S. Cheesman, and is 236 ft. high and 176 ft. thick with crest length of 670 ft. and a 212 ft. spillway.When completed, it was considered an historical engineering feat, the highest of its type in the United States. It depends on its mass for its strength and the arch with a 480 degree radius gives it added safety. The dam impounds the snow melt from the mountains for one of Denver’s water supplies.

This c. 1930s Watchman’s House was built to replace the original that burned down. The structure is located 80 meters to the west from the northeast end of Cheesman Dam spillway. There is a path from the porch at the south end of the house to a footbridge above the spillway. The gabled roof brick house has a full basement and screened porch on a poured cement foundation on the south end of the house. Cement and masonry retaining walls border a terrace made for the house. Outbuildings include a storage shed near the house built into the granite masonry terracing at the north end.

The lake was formed by construction of Cheesman Dam and named for Walter S. Cheesman, owner of the Denver Water Works and co-founder of the Denver Pacific Railroad.

It was named for the lake below the Mountain.

It was established March 5, 1900, during construction of Cheesman Dam. Closed Oct.31,1904, with mail sent to Buffalo Creek Post Office.

Well known to the Indian tribes, this trail received its name in 1849 when the Cherokees followed it as part of their route from their Oklahoma reservation to the California gold fields. Route was also well known to the early mountain men and trappers of the region.

Cherry Gulch originates in the foothills where it is fed by a number of unnamed streams. It runs east for a little more than a mile through Matthews-Winters Park and joins Mount Vernon Creek just west of Dinosaur Ridge.

Only about two miles long, Chicken Creek joins Cub Creek at Brook Forest. Name origin unknown.

Chief Hosa Lodge was designed by architect J.J. Benedict and built in 1918 by the City and County of Denver as part of “Denver Mountain Parks.” It is a large rustic building of native stone and timber. The original purpose was a restaurant and rest stop along U.S. Highway 40, on the west slope of Genesee Mountain, between Lookout Mountain Park and other parks in Evergreen.During the 1920s, it also became a popular summer “Tent Colony” for city visitors. From the 1930s until it was temporarily closed in the 1980s, Chief Hosa Lodge was used for a variety of activities: World War I museum, a gambling hall-bordello, scout camp, youth hostel, and rental for families by the week.In May 1988, former Denver Mountain Parks employee David Christie leased the facility and restored the lodge and campgrounds. It is a popular place for wedding receptions, seminars, family reunions, and other events.Chief Little Raven was an Arapahoe Indian also known as Chief Hosa. Legend says he had seven wives, 11 children, and more than 30 horses. He mingled freely with white settlers until he and his people were forced to move to reservations. Little Raven protested vehemently, “It will be a very hard thing to leave the country that God gave us. Our friends are buried there, and we hate to leave these grounds.”

This clay pit mine dates from 1947 on land that was once part of the historic Rooney Ranch. It was never a large scale operation and had no connection with the Rooney family.

Evergreen Quad: Section 6, Township 4S, Range 70W. Ralston Buttes Quad: Section 31, Township 3S, Range 70W. This was a stop on the Colorado Central Railroad. See Evergreen Quad – Railroad Bridges and Depots.

from the Cultural Contexts report, 2004:

Chimney Gulch Road/New York Trail (1872)
This road ascended Chimney Gulch southeast of Golden and ran to the New York Ranch at Mount Vernon Canyon.

Established 1935, and the building constructed 1936-1937. The new sanctuary was built in 1971 on the site of the razed original building.

This Church was organized in April 1956. Members met at Arvada High School and Clear Creek Valley Grange Hall until services were held in the new church building on September 11, 1960. The first pastor in 1960 was Rev. Cecil Franklin.

The Christian Church was organized c. 1868. In 1870 the congregation purchased a lot on the north side of Clear Creek for the sum of $225.00. In May, 1873, under the direction of Berty Stover, a church was erected. The Church was built in a modified Gothic style. It was 32 feet by 56 feet with a seating capacity of 400. At the time the church was built there were 80 people in the congregation. In 1907 the church was sold. According to Georgina Brown in “The Shining Mountains,” the last preacher became involved with a member of his congregation and the church building had to be sold for its mortgage. Golden High School was built on the church site in 1923.

This subdivision has 18 homes and a church, The Little Chapel in the Hills. A private residence, La Hacienda, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located in Water District #7 and under Priority #40, 2-18-1865 and #62, 11-18-1877, this ditch diverts water from the north bank of Clear Creek. Claimants in 1884 were the Golden City and Ralston Creek Ditch Co. By 1936 adjudication, the claimant was the Golden, Ralston Creek and Church Ditch Co. They also divert water from Ralston Creek. This ruling was for a fourth enlargement commenced on 3-16-1886, length approximately 26 miles and irrigating approximately 50,000 acres of land. It was named for George Henry Church, who leased it in October 1877 for 49 years and probably had a hand in the improvements and extensions to the area of his ranch on present day North Wadsworth Boulevard.

The church was established in 1958.

The church was established in 1952, with the building constructed in 1962.

The church was established in 1967.

The building was built by the Denver Ninth Ward of the Denver West Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. The Church was completed and dedicated on April 30, 1967 by President Hugh B. Brown. In 1981, Stake President Russell C. Taylor dissolved the Denver West Stake and created the Arvada Stake. The Genealogical Branch Library was housed in this Church in 1975, and the name was changed to the Family History Library. A second building was built in the Arvada Stake at 12995 W. 72nd Avenue. The building was begun on August 18, 1974, completed and dedicated in the Spring of 1975, by Richard L. Murri and Dean C. Banner. A third church building in the Arvada Stake was purchased in 1981 from the New Early Christian Church, built in 1976, at 6490 Quail Street. After the building was remodeled and additions were made, the Church was dedicated in 1981 by Stake President John Berge.

The church was established in 1953.

The church was built in 1924 by Pastor T. P. Dunn, between 10th St. and Clear Creek at the site of the present chamber of commerce booth. The church was a white frame building. The congregation was composed of 24 members during its first year. In 1959 the church was purchased by a gas company and a new church was built on W. 16th Ave. by Pastor Earl Wheeler.

In 1871 the Stewart Hotel was the locale for the First Episcopal services in the area. In 1897 regular services began in the hotel building and in 1899 the name became “The Mission of the Transfiguration.” The new and present building opened for services in 1963. Name source unknown.

George Henry Church homesteaded 240 acres in 1870. Here a cattle ranch and wheat farm was in operation over 100 years and in 1989 was designated as a Centennial Farm by the State Historical Society. As of 2010 was one of five Centennial Farms in Jefferson County, the others being The Rooney, Baughman, Wise and Schnell ranches and farms.

Church Ranch Boulevard was completed on June 6, 1990 by Charles McKay, a descendant of George Henry Church family. McKay named the Boulevard for the members of the Church family as Phase #1 of the development.

Church Ranch Way, phase #2 of the Church thoroughfares, was completed in 1997 and named by Charles McKay for the Church family. Phase #2 was completed by Jefferson County and the City of Westminster.

Pioneer George Henry Church built a 12-room house for stage passengers on their first stop-over out of Denver. This stage stop was also called Twelve- Mile House, the distance between Denver and Church’s Station. Wells Fargo discontinued the stage route to the mountains in 1868, shortly after President Grant and his daughter made the trip. The building continued to be used by Bull Whackers (ox team drivers) who hauled baled hay to the mountains. As many as 75 persons stayed at a time for supper, lodging and breakfast. This was also a convenient stop on the Cherokee Trail and Overland Stageline which closely followed Colorado State Highway #287 to Cheyenne, Wyoming (1865-1885).

The mine on V.J. Churches ranch struck a two-foot-thick coal vein at a depth of 160 feet.

This ditch was in Water District #7 (Priorities #16, 5-31-1868 and #19, 5-20-1873). Claimant in 1884 was John Churches. The area where the ditch originated, from south bank of Ralston Creek, is now under Ralston Reservoir. John Churches owned lands North and East of North Table Mountain and built this ditch to benefit those properties.

Claimant for adjudication in 1884 was John Churches. Located in Water District #7, the lake is filled from Ralston Creek via Churches Ditch, which has a headgate on the south bank of Ralston Creek in SE1/4, S32, T2S, R70W. John Churches was an area farmer and built the system.

John C. Churches (1823-1910), traveled by ox team with Asahel Haines and John Huggins to the goldfields in 1859. The family surname, Churchhouse, was changed to Churches after the family settled on a ranch in Golden. The home built in 1862 was used as a half-way house for travelers and their livestock. Churches built an irrigation ditch out of Ralston Creek and a reservoir in the area. He was the first Worthy Master of Enterprise Grange. He and his wife Mary Ann served in the Colorado State Grange and in Garden Pomona No. 1. Van Bibber Creek flows west to east across the northern edge of the surveyed area of Churches Ranch. In 1881, Mary Ann Churches and Mary Ann Wadsworth were active in the women suffrage movement in Colorado and were urged to attend a meeting discuss the political and social status of women. Virg and Gent Bennett of Mount Vernon and the Churches boys gathered their cattle at Glencoe and drove them to the Union Stockyards in 1901. In 1937, the Denver Water Board bought the Churches property and built Ralston Reservoir. Churches house, stone barn and several other buildings are still standing. Churches Ranch listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 23, 1998 (5JF.1042).

The 1864 barn was constructed in a vernacular masonry style using stone, wood and tile. The 1 1/2 story barn contains 3300 square feet. John C. Churches files a Homestead application for this land in December 1863. When Churches filed proof for his patent in December 1868, he cited a stone barn as one of the improvements he had made to the land. The sandstone for the barn was obtained from the vicinity of Ralston Creek. This barn was one of the major elements of Churches’ ranch. By 1867, Churches advertised beef, vegetables, and poultry for sale in Golden and continued to sell a substantial amount of meat to the local market for many years. The barn was utilized for the storage of hay and grain and to shelter horses and cattle and farm implements. The ranch was also utilized as a way station along a route to the gold camps during the 1860s and the Churches provided for travelers and horses.

Named for John C. Churches, who built the stage stop for travelers in the 1860s. The buildings were still standing in 1998 and were owned by the Denver Water Board. Churches was born in Somerset, England (1817-1889). His father’s name was John Churchhouse, but the surname was changed to Churches by the Jefferson County family. Churches came to Colorado in 1859 with Asahel Haines and John Higgins. He filed his citizenship papers in 1862 and received the patent for his homestead in 1869. This record indicated that he built a stone house, stone barn, corral, two water wells and a log barn. The stone house was used as a half-way station for travelers and their livestock on the way to the mountains.
Churches built an irrigation ditch out of Ralston Creek and a reservoir, Churches Lake. He and his wife, Mary Ann Colepriet Churches, were instrumental in forming Enterprise Grange, No. 25 in 1874. Churches was the first Worthy Master.

The park was dedicated in 1978. It was refined by the local citizens who donated and planted trees and shrubs along the greenbelt.

This c. 1862 small wooden well stood in the middle of the main road from Bergen Park to Hutchinson-Bradford Junction (now Conifer). A local landmark for many years, the new route for the main road passes next to it. It stands close to the point where a toll gate stood for the Bradford Toll Road, near the junction of the Bradford Road and the road from Bergen Park. According to local folklore the well was being dug at the time of the 1862 Second Battle of Bull Run (Manasas) was being fought during the Civil War.

This ditch is located in Water District #7. Claimants in 1884 were Charles Brown and John Clark. It originates from the north bank of Ralston Creek and has Ralston Creek Priority #13, dating from May 31, 1865. John Clark owned a farm north of present-day West 64th Avenue and on each side of Simms Street.

This original 27′ by 27′ square two-story log house was constructed by John J. Clark in 1883. It consisted of a living room, dining room, and kitchen downstairs and three bedrooms on the second floor. Dormers, a bay window, gingerbread window trimming, interior construction materials, and style are all typical of the Victorian Era, but fancy for a mountain town. The original 1878 homestead 12′ by 12′, 1 1/2-story cabin was added on as a bedroom on the main house. Clark came to Colorado in 1868 and met with success prospecting and invested in mining property. Clark became a merchant in Nevadaville and served as a town clerk, treasurer, and mayor. In 1878, he homesteaded 160 acres near Bergen Park on the Soda Creek Road. He built a cabin, improved his homestead and purchased another 160 acres. When he built the main house in 1883, Clark owned a meat and vegetable market in Central City. In 1883, Clark was elected to the state legislature. Clark died in 1912 and a piece of the property became Filius Park, a part of Denver Mountain Parks. In 1920, Lucius Edwin Humphrey purchased the ranch from Clark’s widow. Humphrey commuted to Denver where he was head of the copy desk for 25 years and the Denver Post for ten years.

The ditch is in Water District #7. The headgates are on south bank of Clear Creek. Claimants in 1884 were Fred Claus and S. E. Couch. State Engineer’s “Water Rights Report,” show all the rights (#12 5-13-1861) were transferred to the Welch, Lee, Stewart and Eskins Ditches.

George W. Clayton of Clayton College in Denver leased ground for the camp in 1930 from the U.S. Forest Service. It closed in the late 1940s and later became the site of Buffalo Creek Campground.

Clear Creek received its present name during the summer gold rush days of 1859. The earliest prospectors referred to it as Vasquez Fork, the name it had held since the 1830s, and the name was changed presumably due to its then-clear and turbulent waters. Nicknamed “Klar Krik” by some of the less-refined locals, it was described by persons such as Horace Greeley as being a powerful and turbulent stream teeming particularly with brown trout, difficult if not impossible to cross on horseback during summertime high waters. Irrigation canals have since sapped the river of its original power, in order to support agriculture downstream. So much water was diverted early on that by 1879 the downstream water had literally dried out. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries upstream mining operations completely destroyed the river’s ecosystem and compelled people such as George West to complain it was belying its name since it was now “big muddy”. Metallic tailings and human waste from upstream threatened downstream agriculture and the health of Golden residents. However, the water was the principal source of power for area industry, including flour mills, smelters, and a paper mill. The river has been home to virtually all kinds of gold mining attempted in Colorado, from gold panning to hydraulics to dredge mining, and evidence of this mining remains along the river in various places. Clear Creek has been prone to periodic severe floods, causing millions of dollars in damage to towns, railroads, farmers and industry. During later years it has been the focus of continuing open space and parks preservation initiatives by several entities.

This major east-west Front Range canyon through which Clear Creek River flows is about 12 miles long. Colorado Central Railroad completed laying track through the canyon in September 1872. The track was abandoned in July 1941.

Received legislative authorization March 8, 1864; “‘Clear Creek and Guy Gulch Wagon Road Company.’ Authorization to operate parallel with and to cross Golden Gate Gregory Road.” “In 1862, W.A.H. Loveland organized a wagon road company; reorganized in 1863 into the Clear Creek and Guy Gulch Wagon Road Co. In 1865, the company became the Colorado and Clear Creek Railroad Co. In 1866, the Colorado Central and Pacific RR Co. emerged.” It was replaced with Colorado Central Railroad in 1872.

After enjoying the Apex Trail, and Rilliet Park as a child and teenager, Denver native Carla Swan began purchasing land on Lookout Mountain to preserve it. In 1986, she established the Clear Creek Land Conservancy and donated 240 acres to begin a plan to protect as much of Clear Creek Canyon as possible. She died in 1993, but her work has continued via the CCLC board and Jefferson County Open Space. By 1998, the CCLC has been instrumental in preserving 1,100 acres.

1917 report states the property has not been worked for the past nine years and ten months

The district was organized in 1952 and serves the area north of Clear Creek to 54th Avenue and as far east as Dudley Street and west to Parfet Street.

The name is descriptive of the location. The church was originally Clear Creek Valley Church organized in 1890. In 1892 the name was changed to Alathe Church. In 1905 the faltering congregation became a mission of Galilee Baptist, Denver, and was named Fruitdale Baptist, adopting the name of the neighborhood. In 1990 the centennial observance research led to the name change back to Clear Creek Valley Baptist Church. This is a conservative Baptist denomination and is the site of the Rocky Mountain Conservative Baptist Association headquarters.

The third grange formed in the Arvada area was Clear Creek Valley Grange, No. 4, chartered December 9, 1873. The grange building, constructed in 1874, was the oldest building in Olde Town Arvada. This building has been converted into a theater, Arvada Festival Playhouse, and was in use in 1994.

Built in 1873 by George P. Morrison for his family home when he moved from Mount Vernon. The main building is three stories, built of alternating blocks of finished red sandstone (from the adjacent Morrison Formation quarry) and buff sandstone (Dakota Formation). A wing added in 1889 is of rough-cut red sandstone with buff trim.

George Morrison died in 1895 in this house. John Swanson, from a Swedish family, bought the house and ran a well-known hotel called the Cliff House. Known for its fine food, good rooms and lovely gardens and for a bandstand for Saturday concerts. Morrison had its own band. Mrs. Swanson lost her mind and died in a sanitarium; Mr. Swanson hung himself from grief over her death. The house is now an inn with the same name.

The Colorado & Southern Railroad made a stop at Cliffdale. It was in existence in 1905 and owned by Mr. and Mrs. John King who operated a family hotel with 6 cabins as well as being in charge of the postoffice. The resort was known for fine fishing and at one time was known as the Thompson Resort.

Built in the 1800s by Rudolph Poltz, grandfather of the Long brothers who own the Long Brothers Garage at the present time. The structure was operated as a hotel by Charles Long and his wife. In 1888, a telephone exchange, the Clifton Exchange, was located in the hotel and had a plug board and generator to make the ring. It was moved to Bailey in 1921. Designated a County Landmark in 2004.

Two private residents with access by car across a bridge over the river. They were originally owned by a Mr. Jordon and sold to Henry Nadirff then resold several times.A post office was supposedly here from 1916-1918. The origin of the name is unknown.

It was established Apr. 15,1916, with Lewis O. Watson as postmaster and discontinued Oct.15,1918, with mail sent to Buffalo Creek Post Office.

Two private residences are located across the North Fork of the South Platte River with access by car over a bridge. They were originally owned by a Mr. Jordon, then sold to Henry Nadorff, then resold several times. A post office was located here from 1916-1918 (on the railroad track side of the river). One structure was bought in 1992 by a professor at Yale University who had resided in Jefferson County. It has been enlarged and renovated extensively to become a comfortable and attractive vacation home. The origin of the name is unknown.

Located south of Mississippi Avenue and east of Wadsworth Boulevard. Caroline Bancroft’s grandfather….

Clover Knoll claimants in 1936 were George Meyers, Anna T. Hall and Colorado National Bank for Marion L. Lasley. Claimant for South Clover Knoll was George Meyers as successor in interest to George J. Bancroft. Construction on both reservoirs began February 1888 and was completed in 1890. Located in Water District #7, they are filled from Clear Creek via the Agricultural Ditch.

Club Crest Park was one of the several parks designed and constructed to have native grass areas. The entire area north and east of Club Crest Drive, the east edge south of Club Crest Drive and the bank along the Croke Canal was the greenbelt area and bike trail. This trail ran through Club Crest Subdivision.

Club Crest South is a 40-foot-wide greenbelt and 170.81 acres in length. The vacation for the greenbelt originated about 1975.

The name probably was adopted in the mid 1800s because there were coal mines producing there for a time.

The Coal Creek District was one of 4 copper mining districts operating in Jefferson County during the 1870s. Its mines included the Partridge.

This is an extensive complex of historic features that includes stone foundations and pads, retaining walls and check dams, cistern, building rubble, and abandoned mining equipment. Most of the features appear to have been associated with water diversion, storage, and conveyance, probably for the railroad. A portion of the site probably represents day mining activities. There is a dressed stone foundation with only the east and south walls remaining. The walls are five meters long, 50 centimeters high and range from 30 to 70 centimeters in width, the south wall being wider. A field stone pad extends southward off the foundations southeast corner. To the south is a field stone retaining wall two meters in height. South of the retaining wall is a remnant of a poured concrete wall. Further south are more remnants of what may have been a contiguous field stone wall. There are also two large pieces of abandoned machinery located on the site. A five meter by five meter square, stone-lined cistern slumped to the east and south ridges is located west of the dressed stone foundation. South and west of the cistern are fieldstone check dams within a broad swale.

Built in 1962. Designed to complement the ruggedness of mountains, the roof was sloped to accommodate northwest wind patterns.

not available

from the Cultural Contexts report, 2004:

Colorado & Pacific Wagon, Telegraph & Railroad Company (1861)
William A. H. Loveland with other investors constructed this road up Clear Creek Canyon to Idaho Springs, with intentions to cross Berthoud Pass. Loveland and other investors developed the route as the Colorado Central Railroad in the 1870s

Incorporated in 1898, this railroad continued to exist until 1981, when it was absorbed by Burlington Northern in January, 1982. A total of 30 companies were among the predecessors of Colorado and Southern.

This line bought the Denver, Leadville & Gunnison Railroad in 1898, which had been the South Park Division of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1881. The name at the time of construction in 1878 was the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad. The Colorado & Southern Railroad operated until the line was discontinued in 1937.

The school was established in 1974. The curricula is college prep and grades 1-12. “Loyal to Papal teaching” is the philosophy of the school.

The Colorado Central was the first railroad corporation in Colorado, organized in 1865. By December, 1870, the “Iron Horse” reached the community of Arvada. The line had been finished to Golden, and with narrow gauge to Blackhawk in December of 1872. Colorado Central was purchased by Union Pacific Denver and Gulf in 1890, and by Colorado and the Southern in 1899.

This Colorado Central Railroad brick freight office was erected in 1872. The building has a crude foundations and is probably the last existing structure in Jefferson County by the Colorado Central Railroad. This location is approximately where David K. Wall, Golden’s first resident, moved in early 1859 and raised vegetables.

Incorporated 1878; capital stock, $500,000, Andrew McKinney, pres., William A.H. Loveland, general manager. The property is located on the Colorado Central Railroad, within the limits of Golden, and comprises a strip of land one half mile wide and three miles long. The mine has a shaft 300 feet deep and two entries aggregating 1300 feet in length. The vein is about fifteen feet wide and trends north and south. On the surface is a good shaft house capable of raising 100 tons of ore daily. In 1888 miners drifted 260 feet from the surface to a coal vein ten feet wide and another ten feet further measuring four feet six inches.

Built in 1917, this grain elevator was central to Broomfield. Adolph Zang, Sr., owned 4000 acres in the vicinity and sold wheat to the elevator. Fred Harrison ran the elevator from 1917 to 1941. His son told of living in a tent for a year after they came until a house was built for them.

The Colorado Railroad Museum had its beginning in 1950. Co-founder Robert W. Richardson began accumulating railroad artifacts at Alamosa. Richardson believed too little was being done to save the bulk of this material so with the help of Cornelius Hauck opened the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1958. The museum has accumulated a number of locomotives, dining cars, and cabooses, several of which are listed on the State and National Registers.

The car was purchased by the Pullman Car Co., by the Colorado Midland in 1887 for use as a first class coach. It is one of the few surviving passenger cars from the railroad. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.13) on December 11, 1996.

Built in 1937, by the Davenport Locomotive Works in Iowa, Locomotive No. 50 served Oregon until purchased by the D&RGW in 1963 and moved to Durango where it was used as a switcher until 1970. It is the only narrow gauge diesel locomotive ever owned by the D&RGW. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.10) on December 11, 1996.

The car was purchased by the D&RG in 1872 and is considered to be the oldest narrow gauge passenger car in the country. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.13) on December 11, 1996.

This 1881 narrow gauge coach, designed by Jackson and Sharpe, provided eighty-six continuous years of passenger service for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.14) on March 12, 1996.

The 1881 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Coach No. 83 operated for 83 years, fist as a passenger coach and then as a maintenance-of-way vehicle. It is only remaining car manufactured by Sharp and Jackson which has not been extensively rebuilt or altered.

Narrow gauge caboose No. 49 was built by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1881 and is important for its association with Colorado railroad history and for its engineering significance. The caboose served the railroad for 57 years before being retired in October 1938. It was recently restored to its 1880s appearance. It was place on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.5) on September 11, 1996.

Built in 1881 and important for its association with Colorado railroad history and for its engineering significance, the locomotive served 66 years with the D&RGW, the Rio Grande Southern, and the Colorado & Southern at various times during its service. Its last few months of service were between Dolores and McPhee on the Montezuma Lumber Co. Railroad, the last lumber railroad to operate in Colorado. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.9) on September 11, 1996.

Built in 1880, by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Locomotive No. 191 is important for its association with Colorado railroad history and for its engineering significance. It served the DSP&P and its successors for 22 years before being sold to a lumber company in Wisconsin. Acquired by the museum in 1973, it is the oldest, and one of the few surviving steam locomotives of the DSP&P, one of Colorado’s most famous narrow gauge railroads. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.7) on December 11, 1996.

Important for its association with Colorado railroad history and for its engineering significance, this standard gauge combination baggage and passenger car was purchased as a rebuilt car in 1904, only 3 years after incorporation of the Great Western. The car hauled passengers for the railway in the early 1900s and was the only coach owned by GW Railway in the early years of its operation in northern Colorado. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.8) on September 11, 1996.

Built in 1890 and important for its association with Colorado railroad history and for its engineering significance, No. 683 was one of the early locomotives acquired by the D&RGW when converting its mainline to standard gauge. It operated until 1955 and was acquired by the Colorado Railroad Museum in 1963. This is the only extant D&RGW Railroad standard gauge steam locomotive; all others have been scrapped. It was listed on the Directory of State Register Places 5JF1013.11) on September 11, 1996.

The Galloping Geese are important for their association with railroad transportation in southwestern Colorado. They represent the Rio Grande Southern’s innovative and cost saving efforts to maintain service in the face of declining traffic during the Great Depression. Goose No. 2 was built in 1931 and retains its original appearance. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.1) on June 12, 1996, and on the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 1997.

Goose No. 6 was constructed in 1934 to serve as a maintenance-of-way vehicle. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.2) on June 12, 1996, and on the National Register of Historic Places on February 19, 1997.

Goose No. 7 was constructed in 1936 and retains the configuration of a 1950 conversion that enabled it to transport rail-tourists. It was listed on the State Register of Historic Places (5JF1013.3) and National Register of Historic Places on March 12, 1997.

This building was completed in 1953 at a cost of $1,200,000. It was dedicated to Victor C. Alderson, who was president of the Colorado School of Mines from 1903-1913 and again from 1917-1925. It is no accident that this building is devoted to the study of petroleum, chemical engineering, and petroleum refining. Dr. Alderson was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Engineering by the School of Mines in 1938 and was a pioneer in the field of petroleum refining and engineering. In 1919 he established a petroleum engineering curriculum for the School of Mines. In 1920 he published the first book on oil shale in the United States. A motto attributed to Dr. Alderson hung on a wall in the library for many years: “This is the place for men to work, and not for boys to play.”

All was not always smooth during Dr. Alderson’s second term as president of the school. There were several claims about his alleged interference in professors’ sphere of responsibility. There was also a strike by some students, and when the strikers were allowed to return to classrooms, with no punishment, that decision brought another schism on campus. In 1921 a legislative sub-committee investigated the charges, and they found that none of the charges was warranted.

Alderson Hall is unusual in a couple of respects. Inside the building is an oil drilling rig that goes from 100 feet underground up to the top of the four-story building. The drill does not drill for oil, but it is used to teach students about oil drilling and oil drilling equipment. On the rig is a pumping unit to teach students pumping techniques. Another unusual aspect of the building is the underground storage vault that is separate and apart from the building. This vault is for the storage of explosives used in teaching mining.

In January 1977, there was an explosion in Alderson Hall in an area of a laboratory that was built to be explosion proof but had never been tested. Fortunately, this test proved the design of the area. No one was injured, and the largest damage was to a window that was blown out. The estimated loss was $250.

As the Colorado School of Mines grew, it became obvious that a library would be necessary. A library building was opened in 1955 just north of Guggenheim Hall. The building was not named until 1959 when it was named in honor of Arthur T. Lakes. Twenty years later, the building was rededicated upon the completion of its renovation and additions to the original building.

The library is considered one of the top technical libraries in the country, if not the world. The original building cost $800,000 and was State funded. The addition and renovation cost about $3 million, of which the State’s share was $1.56 million. Private donations were about $440,000, and the Boettcher Foundation added $1 million. In addition to its over 200,000 volumes, it has more than 175,000 maps and carries 2,000 technical journals and magazines that concern themselves with the entire scope of mining and engineering taught at Mines. In 1937 the Boettcher family donated the Frank C. Allison gold and silver specimen collection which can be seen in the glass-faced vault located on the south side of the main entrance. In 1995 the history archives were made possible by a grant from Russell and Lynn Wood. The library is also a repository for maps and documents of the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Arthur Lakes was associated with Bishop George Randall in the founding of Jarvis Hall if 1869. Jarvis Hall was the forerunner of the Colorado School of Mines. Arthur Lakes was the first professor of geology, and he taught at the school until 1893 through its transitions from a church (Episcopalian) school to a school supported by a territorial government (Colorado Territory) and finally, in 1876, to a state institution of higher education. There were two years (1878-1879) when he was doing research in Colorado and Wyoming and did not teach. Professor Lakes is considered to be the “father” of Colorado geology. He deciphered the history of Colorado’s geology and uncovered the dinosaur tracks at Red Rocks Park.

The original building was completed in 1964. It was funded by a $750,000 loan from the Department of House and Urban Development. The loan was repaid from revenues the use of the building generated. The building was originally called the College Union, but in May 1960 it was named for Ben H. Parker who was a geologist and had been a member of the Geology Department faculty. Dr. Parker was also the first graduate from the School of Mines to become the President of the school (1946-1950). He also served on the school’s Board of Trustees from 1950-1969, and he was President of the Board of Trustees from 1957-1969.

Berthoud Hall was designed by Temple Hoyne Buell, who became a very well known and well regarded architect. The construction of the building was a project of the WPA, a Federal program that helped put people to work during the depression of the 1930s. The building is adorned with terra cotta figures and other ornamentation. Its exterior appearance is unique.

The building was dedicated to the memory of Captain Edward R. Berthoud, who came to Golden in 1860. He then served under Colonel Leavenworth during the Civil War and distinguished himself in that conflict. Captain Berthoud’s first job in Golden was to survey the original town plat. He followed this up by working on the surveying and construction of a railroad line up Clear Creek Canyon. Captain Bethoud joined the faculty of the Colorado School of Mines in 1872 to teach civil engineering and geology. In 1880 he began teaching mining engineering and geology. In addition to these duties, he also served on the Board of Trustees from 1874-1904. Captain Berthoud discovered the first pass through the central Rocky Mountains. The pass bears his name.

The building is used to teach geology and geologic engineering. The building also houses the school’s Geological Museum. In 1966 it became a world class collection of rocks and minerals when the collections of the Colorado Historical Society and the Colorado State Bureau of Mines were added to the CSM collection. The museum also houses the Hoffman Murals, depictions of mining over the ages.

The building was also the scene of a tragedy in 1969. Three young teenagers managed to get into the elevator when it was on the second floor. One climbed up through the ceiling hatch to see how the elevator worked. While leaning over the edge of the car to see how it worked, his friends moved the car about “six inches.” It moved enough for the counter-weights to crush the boy’s skull.

This building was opened on September 8, 1954. There is nothing exceptional about this building other than it is the first building on the Colorado School of Mines campus to be built specifically as a dormitory. It was built to house 84 students, and it also contains an apartment for the “house mother.”

The building was named in honor of A. Hartwell Bradford, a 1909 graduate of the school as well as a generous contributor to the school. Mr. Hartwell, who was awarded a Distinguished Achievement Medal in 1951, was a west coast oil executive who pioneered the development of natural gas extraction plants.

The field is built in an oval shape as many fields built for football are. The center section, the length of the football field, was built in 1922 with a $5,000 contribution from Ralph D. Brooks. Mr. Brooks was a trustee of the Colorado School of Mines from 1922-1924. The two end sections were added in 1929.

In keeping with the diversity of building appearances on the Colorado School of Mines campus, this building’s appearance is different from any of the others. The designers, Lamar Kelsey and Associates, gave the building distinctive rounded corners.

This building was considered to be a mark of resurgence for the campus. During the oil crisis years of the 1970s the enrollment at the school, able to accommodate 3,000, had fallen to 1,600. A new building in which to teach mining and engineering was a sign of growth returning to the campus. Construction began in June 1979, and the building was opened in December 1980.

Dedication of the building to George E. Brown was on April 9, 1981. Dr. Brown was a graduate of the class of 1922. In 1949 he was awarded the Distinguished Achievement Award, and in 1962 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering. Both Dr. Brown and his brother, Herman Brown, were involved in the Brown and Root Company. Together they built Brown and Root from a small road building company to an international construction conglomerate.

The $5.5 million that the school cost to build and equip was paid for with private funds. The largest contributor was the Brown Foundation, which donated $4.4 million to the project.

The center, which opened in 1972, houses Geophysical Engineering, the Computer Center, and the Bunker Auditorium along with the usual type of rooms for a college building. At the time it was built, the auditorium could accommodate the entire student population of 1,600. It was the first time in 50 years that it was possible to gather all the students in one place at the same time. The auditorium has proven to be a boon to the city of Golden and also Jefferson County. The Colorado School of Mines makes it available for use by cultural groups such as the Jefferson Symphony.

The building was built with largely private funding. To keep the school from losing some time limit grants, the state appropriated $600,000 and purchased the land. Private donations came to slightly over $2 million, of which $1.7 million came from Cecil H. and Ida Green. Mr. Green was a founding partner in the reorganization of Geophysical Services. This newly reorganized company created Texas Instruments, the electronics giant.

In 1972, while the move into the Hall was going on, the school’s administration was being called before the Joint Budget Committee of the legislature to explain a $250,000 cost overrun.

An interesting sidelight concerns a building that was razed to make room for this building’s landscaping. The building that was razed at Cheyenne and 15th Streets was built in 1889 as a home for the president of the school. Dr. Chauvenet and his family were the first to occupy it. It remained the president’s residence until 1925 when Dr. Coolbaugh became president. Dr. Coolbaugh preferred to remain in his own home, so he made the house available to the Dean of Students. It remained the home of the Dean of Students until 1964. It was then renovated to become the first dormitory for women on the campus. Until that time, only three women had received degrees from the school. That change in use brought an editorial in the school newspaper, “The Oredigger,” decrying the change and calling for the house to remain the Dean’s House for historical reasons if no other.

Chauvenet Hall is an early example of recycling. It is the result of combining two turn-of-the-century buildings into one building in which to teach mining at the Colorado School of Mines. The converted buildings were the original Power Plant and Assay buildings. The conversion took place in 1955. Currently the building houses several departments including, appropriately, Environmental Science.

Dr. Regis Chauvenet was president of the Colorado School of Mines from 1883-1902 and was named President Emeritus in 1913. If anyone can be thought of as the person who set the course for the School of Mines to follow, Dr. Chauvenet can lay claim to that distinction. When he took over the administration, the school had very few full-time students. Most of the students attended for only as long as it took them to learn how to find signs of silver and gold when prospecting. By 1890 Dr. Chauvenet was able to do away with what he referred to as “scrap courses.” He emphasized the need for mining and engineering curricula that would lead to a degree for the students. At this time there was no tuition for state residents, but others had to pay $100 a year. He also looked for the best teachers he could find.

By the time Dr. Chauvenet retired in 1902, the Colorado School of Mines was firmly established as a degree-granting institution of higher education. When he passed away, Dr. Chauvenet left an unfinished history of the school that he had been writing. His widow donated it to the school, and a copy is available in the school’s library.

This building, opened in September 1952 and designed by Fuller, Fuller and Fuller, an architectural firm that has served the Colorado School of Mines for three generations, is one of beige brick and glass. The building was built to house chemistry and geochemistry. In more recent years, an addition was constructed on the north side of the building.

The building was dedicated in May 1953 to Melville F. Coolbaugh, who served as president of the school from 1925-1946 and was named President Emeritus in 1946. By profession Dr. Coolbaugh was a research chemist, and he served as dean of the chemistry department in 1917-1918.

This building has a place in the history of the Colorado School of Mines because it was the first completely new building on campus after World War II.

Guggenheim Hall is named in honor of Simon Guggenheim. Mr. Guggenheim and his family controlled a majority of the smelting business in the country. Because of this, he realized the importance of a school of higher education dedicated to mining, engineering and metallurgy. He was also a U.S. Senator from Colorado having been elected in 1906 to the post by the Colorado legislature in a time when United States senators were still elected by state legislatures. Mr. Guggenheim’s election brought further outcries that United States senators elected by state legislatures were usually wealthy men, and it gave additional impetus for ratification of the 17th amendment to the Federal constitution which provided for popular election of United States senators. The amendment had been proposed in 1909 and ratified in 1913.

In 1905, in honor of the birth of his son, he donated to the Colorado School of Mines enough money to build and furnish the building named after him. The sum was $80,000, and for its time at the beginning of the twentieth century, it was the largest private grant to any State institution. Nor was that the end of Mr. Guggenheim’s support. In 1928 the foundation of the building was damaged because of the shifting soil. Mr. Guggenheim donated $25,000 to repair the foundation, and when he died his will contained a $100,000 bequest to the school.

The building was designed by James Murdoch, and in 1905 the cornerstone was laid by the Grand Lodge of Masons. The opening of the building in 1906 facilitated some much needed expansions in some of the school’s departments. The first floor of the building was devoted to Geology and a Geological museum. The administrative offices and the library were moved to the second floor of Guggenheim Hall. Eventually, the library would take up one-half a floor of the building, and a library building would become a necessity. The third floor was devoted to a 700 seat auditorium, classrooms and offices. After the moves, the Old Main Building was almost entirely devoted to Chemistry. Eventually, Old Main and two adjacent buildings were referred to as the Chemistry Buildings. Hill Hall now occupies the site of those three buildings.

During the late 1960s, Guggenheim Hall needed extensive renovation. State policy was that if renovation of a building would cost more than half of the value of the building, the building was to be replaced. Because of the building’s historic import, the rule was waived and renovation began. The legislature appropriated $252,000 for the renovation, but that amount was not enough to cover the costs. The school then appealed to the Guggenheim Foundation and was informed that, in keeping with the intent of the Foundation’s bylaws, the Foundation could not appropriate funds for buildings because funds could only be used for fellowships but that the director of the fund had spoken of the request to Mrs. Guggenheim and enclosed her personal check for $100,000 with his reply.

The building is topped by a square bell tower which chimes the hours. The bell tower is itself topped by a gold domed cupola. In 1954 when the Colorado State Capitol Building’s gold dome was recovered with gold leaf, some of the left over gold leaf was used to recover the bell tower cupola atop Guggenheim Hall. In 1988 the dome was reguilded again with a gift from the graduation class of 1987 and a gift from Amax, Inc. of two gold bars from their Sleeper gold mine.

This is presently the oldest building on the Colorado School of Mines campus. It was built when Dr. Regis Chauvenet was the president. It was completed in 1894, and it was named by the legislature when they appropriated the $20,000 needed to build it. The original purpose was to use the building to teach physics and “draughting.” It now houses Mineral Economics, Special Programs, and Continuing Education.

The architect for this building was a well known architect of his day, Robert S. Roeschlaub. He called the style of architecture “Victorian Romanesque.” Mr. Roeschlaub also created a master plan for the campus. The builder was a well known local builder, Herbert Tracy Quick.

Unfortunately, when Hill Hall was built in 1958, it obscured the view of the Hall of Engineering from most parts of the campus.

Hill Hall was completed in late 1958, but classes weren’t held in the building until the fall semester of 1959. The building, designed by Fuller, Fuller and Fuller, was built for the purpose of teaching all phases of metallurgy and material sciences.

It is fitting, therefore, that the building was dedicated to the memory of Nathaniel T. Hill, who was referred to during the December 1983 dedication ceremonies as the man who saved Colorado’s economy during the lean years of 1873-1876. Professor Hill, a chemistry professor at Brown University, came to Colorado in 1864 at the behest of a group of Boston financiers to evaluate their newly purchased mining properties. He arrived at the time that finding so-called “free gold” to mine was running out. “Free gold” is gold that can be panned from a stream, separated in a sluice box, found as nuggets or easily separated from the rock it was in by milling and amalgamating it with mercury. The ore being mined when he arrived required new methods of separating out the gold from the complex sulphide ores mined with it. He travelled to Europe twice to study their smelting processes and made arrangements to ship some ore to Wales to see if their processes would work on Colorado ore. They did, and Hill built his own smelting company that began operating in 1868. The products of his smelter still had to be sent to Wales for refining, but by 1876 Hill had solved all the refining problems, and the entire process took place at his Blackhawk smelter. Gold mining was once again a viable enterprise.

Nathaniel Hill served on the Board of Trustees for the Colorado School of Mines 1873-1876, and he went on to become a United States Senator from Colorado. After an uprising of Utes on the western slope, there were calls for punishing (substitute eliminating) them including one from Colorado’s other Senator, Henry Teller. Senator Hill said that was a narrow and selfish view, and like many in Colorado he favored moving the Utes off the land so as to open it for settlement and development.

This building, built in 1963 and dedicated to the memory of Dr. Paul Meyer in 1964, houses the Physics Department of the Colorado School of Mines. The building’s appearance is unremarkable, unlike the man for whom it was named.

Dr. Meyer was the type of professor every college or university would like to have. He was distinctive in appearance as he strode the campus and the streets of Golden with his gold-headed cane across his back. He was an excellent teacher, and he was genuinely interested in his students and their welfare. The cane, incidentally, was a gift from his students and he was never without it. Evidently, his students appreciated him as well.

Dr. Paul Meyer was born in Switzerland in 1854 and moved to Denver in 1875. He did not like Denver, so he settled in Golden in 1876. He was considered a genius, and it is easy to see why. He graduated from the University of Berne at the age of 13, from the University of Heidelberg with an M.D. degree at the age of 18, and from the University of Berlin with a Ph.D. at age 20.

When Dr. Meyer settled in Golden he took up the practice of medicine. Dr. Regis Chauvenet prevailed upon him to teach mathematics at Mines. He did so from 1883-1900 and simultaneously kept up his medical practice. He practiced medicine in Golden from 1876 until his death in 1930. He was asked to come to England to solve an engineering problem. The sum proposed for his services was described as “lavish,” but he refused, saying he did not want to leave his patients for that long a time.

He was considered one of the six top mathematicians of his day. He worked and corresponded with Albert Einstein and other top scientists such as Charles Steinmetz. His genius carried over to physics, astronomy, and chemistry. His teaching was by direct contact with his students using his own texts that he would not allow to be printed.

Reportedly a great violinist, he would only play when alone or for children, never for adults. It was said that one of his two violins was a Stradivarius. As could be expected, he was also a chess champion.

There were times when, deep in thought, he would arrive in the classroom, and on the board he would write two different mathematical formulas at the same time, writing one with each hand.

Dr. Meyer was named the school’s first Professor Emeritus.

This modern gymnasium, built in 1959, replaced the oldest college gymnasium in Colorado. The original gymnasium had been a three-story Mission Style building that was completed in 1908. On May 7, 1974 the building was dedicated to Russell H. Volk, a Colorado School of Mines graduate who was considered one of the greatest student athletes of his generation. Mr. Volk won 15 varsity letters while in school. In addition, Mr. Volk was president of his class, as well as national chairman and Colorado School of Mines’ delegate to a student leadership conference in Yugoslavia in 1926. He pioneered petroleum exploration and development in the Denver-Julesburg basin. Mr. Volk served as a member of the Colorado School of Mines Board of Trustees from 1967-1973.

This state-funded building devoted to the athletic endeavors of the students was completed in 1937, but the building was not named until 1949. It was named in honor of Frederich C. Steinhauer who was active in sports during his student days at Mines. Mr. Steinhauer was a member of the school’s Board of Trustees from 1911-1915 and again from 1931-1947. He also served as President of the Board of Trustees from 1913-1915 and again from 1942-1947.

The building was designed by the noted architect, Jules Jacques Benoit Benedict. A distinctive architectural feature of the building are the bas-reliefs of the school’s mascot, a burro, and of the school’s emblem, a crossed pick and shovel, on the building’s facade.

Stratton Hall was named for W.S. Stratton, who came to Colorado in 1868 and settled in Colorado Springs. He was a carpenter, and he also did some prospecting. He worked as a carpenter or mechanic or whatever job was available for two-thirds of the year and prospected during the last third. He came to the conclusion that he needed more knowledge to be successful at prospecting. He decided that he needed to learn geology first. Mr. Stratton pursued his education at Colorado College, and there is mention of him taking a course in metallurgy at the Colorado School of Mines. On July 4, 1881, he staked two claims, the Independence and the Washington, in an area where he thought the outcropping of granite he found might be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. He was right, and as was his nature, he said nothing but went about developing his claims. It was impossible to hide the kind of strike he made, and that was the start of the Cripple Creek gold rush. After taking a goodly sum from the mines, he sold the Independence to a British company for $10 million.

In 1896 he was so sure Bryan and “Free Silver” would win the presidential election, he announced publicly he would wager $100,000 on the election. Fortunately, most people in Colorado agreed with him and no one took the bet, because William McKinley won the election.

Stratton was a philanthropic man, and several institutions of higher education benefitted from his largesse. It was at this point that the story of how the building on the Mines campus now named for him came about.

A short history of Stratton and the building was written by Fritz Brennecke in December 1968. Mr. Brennecke wrote of President Chauvenet and the President of the Board of Trustees, Frank Bulkley, going to see Mr. Stratton in 1899. (Mr. Stratton was a Board member at that time, and he served until 1902. From 1901 until his death in 1902, Mr. Stratton was President of the Board of Trustees.) The discussion was about the financial plight of the school. According to this version, Mr. Stratton gave them a check for $25,000 and told them to use it as needed, so they used it to pay for a good portion of what was to be Stratton Hall.

The CSM Office of Institutional Advancement in its June 20, 1989 report told a similar story except that the $25,000 was given to be specifically applied to a building to teach metallurgy. They also report this was the first private gift of money to the Colorado School of Mines. It evidently was noticed because the legislature referred to Mr. Stratton as “. . . the first of Colorado’s wealthy mining men to recognize the importance of the Colorado School of Mines to the chief industry in Colorado.” It doesn’t end there.

The third story, a January 5, 1981 news release from the CSM Office of Public Information, relates a slightly different version of the story. This story relates that the legislature appropriated $60,000 for the next year for the school, but they neglected to pass the enabling legislation. At that point, again in 1899, President Chauvenet and Mr. Bulkley went to see Mr. Stratton, who gave them a check for $25,000 (this amount is the same in all the stories) to keep the school running. The money kept the school solvent for a year, and there was even some left over for the growth of some laboratory facilities as well as the start of the Assay building. The story goes on to relate that two years later the legislature appropriated, and enabled, $22,300 for the building. The cornerstone was laid in November 1902, two months after Mr. Stratton died.

It was fitting that the foundation of the building named after a mining man was made with crushed slag from the remains of the Golden Smelting Works.

The minimum security Colorado Correctional Facility opened in January of 1969 as a training academy for criminals that required lower security. It houses a maximum capacity of 150 inmates and staffs 34 people. Many of the property’s buildings are part of the state historical register.

Segments 1-2-3: “Begins at Waterton Canyon, passes Strontia Reservoir, South Platte townsite, a view of Chair Rocks, Top of the World Campground, and a view of Long Scraggy Peak…follow trail to County Road #126 and cross pavement…continue southwest approximately three miles then west to within site of Buffalo and Redskin Campgrounds…continue west, cross the Buffalo Creek and view a granite outcrop above. Lake Wellington called The Castle, continue approximately two miles to Jefferson County and Park County line.” Jefferson County Segment: “Extending from Denver to Durango–467 miles, the Colorado Trail 1776 is a continuous non-motorized trail created by thousands of dedicated volunteers. This is not an old historic route but since it was begun to commemorate Colorado’s Centennial and the nation’s Bicentennial, it has a new claim to history of its own. Most people enjoy this trail by taking it in pieces, for it is cut by roads in many places, providing excellent access.”

This building was built in 1870 by George West and Dr. James Kelly. West used the second floor for his newspaper, “The Colorado Transcript,” and Kelly used the main floor for his drug store. West bought out Kelly and took over the first floor for the newspaper. The newspaper operated in this building until 1967.

This is a large cave which was used by the Ute Indians lead by Chief Colorow. It is located in the large red rock outcroppings that also form Red Rocks Park.

Located east of Kipling and south of West Bowles, this school is part of the Jefferson County R1 School District. It was built in 1977 for grades K-6 with a capacity of 756. It was named for the Ute Indian Chief Colorow, who lived in this area in the 1800s.

“Colorow” was a Ute Indian Chief who frequented the foothills during the 1880s until the early 20th century. The City of Denver purchased .37 acre off Colorow Road on Lookout Mountain in 1915. This tiny site is famous for the extraordinary views of Clear Creek Canyon to the north and the west, and the northern plains beyond Golden. The Beaver Brook Trail can be accessed from Colorow Point which is next to the Lookout Mountain Nature Center. Jefferson County now owns over 2000 acres of open space to the south, north, and east of Colorow Point.

This Denver Mountain Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (5JF644) on November 15, 1990.

An elementary school in Wheat Ridge Public Schools District #8. Built in 1909. Named for subdivision where located. 1924, moved to new building across the street 3227 Chase (5451 W. 32nd Ave. became a store). 1930 and 1950, additions built. 1950, became part of R-1 District. School closed in 1978. 1982, R-1 sold building to Jefferson County. South section site of Wheat Ridge Branch of Jefferson County Library System. Central and north sections site of Jefferson County Senior Resource Center. Provides day care for seniors. Headquarters of Senior Wheels and other services for seniors. 1990 main administration moved to new Jefferson County Social Services, 900 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden.

This plat was filed November 29, 1889 by the Mcdonough syndicate. It was slowly developed but was a stable community.

The Columbia Heights Civic Association organized the Columbia Heights Volunteer Fire Department in 1945. It included the area from Sheridan Boulevard to Harlan Street, 29th Avenue to 33rd Avenue. A fire house was built at 3232 North Depew Street. It was noted that fire calls would be received at Schmitts Grocery, 5451 West 32nd Avenue, at one time. This Department became part of the Wheat Ridge Fire District in 1974.

Attached photos of hangar after it collapsed from the weight of a heavy snow storm in 1965.

Located on South Pierce Street south of West Bowles, this school is part of the Jefferson County R1 School District. It opened in 1973 for grades 9-12 with a capacity of 1652 and had an addition built in 1995. It was named for the southern part of Jefferson County which is referred to as the Columbine area. On April 20, 1999, two student gunmen, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, went on a murderous rampage within the school killing 13 people and wounding 21 others before committing suicide.

Located four blocks south of Ken Caryl Avenue and three blocks east of South Kendall Boulevard, this school is part of the Jefferson County R1 School District. It opened in 1963 for grades K-6 with a capacity of 540 and had an addition built in 1967. It is named for the subdivision in which it is located.

Located one-half mile east of Wadsworth and one-half mile west of South Pierce in Clement Park, this library was built by Jefferson County on property purchased with Open Space funds when Clement Park was purchased from the Grant family. It opened in 1989 and was named after the southern Jefferson County area known as Columbine.

Operator Robert E Harper, owner Jerry DeDuce, Principal product fluorspar 51.74 pounds. Two men working mine.

North Jeffco purchased the property for Columbine Park from Awalt Black and Frances Marie Black in 1963. The lake at Columbine Park was built when the park was redeveloped with funds provided by the 1974 City Bond Referendum. The purpose of the lake was to catch the overflow from Spano’s truck farm south of W. 52nd Avenue. Spano sold the truck farm to Arvada Urban Renewal and when that project was developed there was no more water available for Columbine Lake. Recreational improvements at the site were two tennis courts, tot lot, picnic tables, drinking fountain, trash cans, bike rack, and horseshoe pits. The City of Arvada provided a concrete pathway and an asphalt parking lot. A child was killed in an accident at the park and on a rock north of the park is a plaque which states, “In Memory of Daniel E. Felton, 1958-1964, the park was an important part of his world. This park is owned jointly by the City of Arvada and North Jeffco.

Columbine School was built in 1916. The building was sold and expanded into a private home in 1948.

Interested members first met in private homes and later met in the auditorium of Arvada High School. The church was established on February 6, 1957. The first service in the building at 6205 Garrison Street was held in September 1957 with the church’s first pastor, Darwin Merrill, officiating.

This Church started in Fremont School in 1978, and moved into the Southern Baptist Church building in December, 1981. Rev. Luther Larson was the first pastor of this church.

This c. 1882 1-1/2 story, red brick, front fabled house built by Eugene F. Conant. Conant was at different times secretary and general manager of the Lee-Kinsey Implement Company. William H. Brophy, a Colorado & Southern Railroad mechanic, purchased the house c. 1908.

This church was built to serve the community in the Green Mountain area of Lakewood in 1964.

Owned by City of Denver and operated by Board of Water Commissioners. This tunnel is part of a water diversionary project. It was driven through a low hill and the total length is 2,860 feet. The formation is a fairly soft shale. The tunnel is lined with concrete with a foot diameter. Surface buildings include an office, store room, impresser room, shop, and generator room.

The church was established in 1966. Name from Baptist General Conference.

Located on US Highway 285 at its junction with Highway 73, Pleasant Park Road and Foxton Road. Probably named for the abundance of conifer trees in the area. Before 1894 Conifer was known as Bradford Junction, then Junction. It is now the location of a crossroads shopping business and social center, bank, clinic, and the Conifer High School.

This is a family and community cemetery, with the first marked burial dating 1889. Several local pioneer family names represented are Long, Blakeslee, Cruse, Kemp, Fitzsimmons, Ramboz and McQueary.

The church was established in 1953; the building in 1959.

The $15,000,000 school opened in 1996 on a 103-acre campus with 34 acres developed and occupied. The technology oriented school offers classes from Red Rocks Community College, a public library, a computer ratio of one to every three students, and six athletic fields or courts.

The first Conifer library was established by the Conifer Civic Club in the milk house at the Meyer Ranch in 1953. The library was later located in the Conifer Junction School (“The Little White School”) from 1955 until l981. A 3.19 acre plot in Aspen Meadows was donated to Jefferson County by Norman and Ethel E. Meyer in 1968 and dedicated for a new library, but pending construction of a building, the area was still being serviced by Bookmobile in 1995. The Conifer High School, opened in 1996, has a dual-use library available to both the school and the public.

A subdivision platted in 1970 by Geneva Basin Ski Corporation, Walter Burke and Roy Romer the developers. Romer later served as a three term governor of Colorado, 1986-1998. Name came from nearby community.

Built in 1927; designated a county landmark 4/5/2004.

Much of the southern area of Wheatridge is served by this company including the Oakes Mutual Water Company, W. 32nd Avenue at Allison and the John Olson well at 29th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard.

Built in 1939, this one-story, vernacular, wood frame, 750 sq. ft., L-shaped house has a steeply pitched gable roof with an open porch on the front west facade. The clapboard sided house’s windows are six-over-six with shutters, and also contains an enclosed rear porch and a brick chimney. There is a frame garage at the rear of the property.

An outlet of Hyatt Lake’s overflow. This reservoir has an appropriation date January 24, 1893. Over the years it has been referred to locally as “Moreland” or “Newman” Reservoir because of the local landowners.

This small one story, wood frame house was built in 1894. The house was built in Prince’s re-subdivision of the Lakeside Subdivision for Isabel Cooper in 1894, who originally owned lots 29-32. In Sept. 1921, Samuel B. Turner purchased the lots and houses.

Today’s world’s largest single-source brewery, Coors Brewery is a concrete walled plant covering some 3,400 acres. Coors is a major industry for Golden producing over 20 million barrels of “suds” per year, with 300,000 visitors annually. In 1873, Adolph Coors, a German immigrant, started the brewery. In the early 1900s, Coors expanded into ceramics manufacturing that helped it survive during Prohibition. Malt manufacturing also kept the brewery out of financial trouble. Other products sustaining the brewery were malted milk, “near beer”, and pottery. Adolph Coors Sr. was orphaned in Germany at 15 years of age. Coors was a miller, bookbinder, and a brewer. He escaped political economic repression to the United Sates as a stowaway. In 1873, friend Jacob Scheiler put forth $2000 in capital and purchased a tannery and entered the brewery business. In 1933, when Prohibition was repealed, only 750 of the 1,568 breweries survived, and Coors was one of them.

The Coors Building was built by Perre O. Unger and William A. Wortham in 1906. The two-and-one-half-story, mansard-roofed commercial emporium in pressed red brick is one of the city’s best preserved and least altered. This was one of many Colorado saloons built by Adolph Coors in 1906. This business was prohibited when a post-prohibition law banned the breweries from selling their wet goods in taverns. It was renovated in 1992 and in now a J&C gift store.

This feature was probably named due to the fact that it overlooks the grounds of the nearby Coors Brewery and Coors Technology Center. It was the first land on North Table Mountain purchased for Jefferson County Open Space.

LIsted on the National Register of Historic Places on October 17, 1997 (5JF.147).

The property is developed by shaft 354 feet deep. No. one level is 65 feet below the surface. They are starting to run a drift east at this level, which is all the work being done on the mine in 1918; The shaft is filled with water up to this level. Two men employed.

Homesteaded in late 1880s by Henry Corbin, a Mr. Ammon and a Mr. Kayser. The present owners’ year-round home was built around the one-room log house where the ranch children attended school and another cabin where the teacher lived.

This school is part of Jefferson County R1 School District. It opened in August 1987 for grades K-6 with a capacity of 650. It was named for the Spanish explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado.

Located in Water District #7, this ditch diverts water from Clear Creek’s south bank under Priority #35, May 1, 1864. Claimants in 1884 were area farmers Simon Cort and Oliver Graves.

Located in Water District #7, under Priority #10 (4-30-1861). This ditch diverts water from Clear Creek out of the north bank of Clear Creek. Claimants in 1884 were Simon Cort, John Hughes, J.N. Pace and Oliver Graves. Cort and Graves properties are shown on an early Settlement map of Arvada area. Some water from this ditch was transferred to the City of Golden, June, 17, 1986.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (5JF643) on December 28, 1990, this Denver Mountain Park of 297 acres, was one of the city’s early acquisitions. Located off Highway 74, it has playgrounds, picnic tables, fireplaces and shelter house.

It was probably named for the cottonwoods growing alongside.

Morrison’s first newspaper, “The Bud”, was in existence from 1888 to 1899. Built in the 1880s, it was occupied by Judge Babcock as a dwelling. It also was a meat market run by Tom Morrison, son of the founder of Morrison. It was the Morrison Post Office after the fire of 1919. It was also the birth place of Harry Gates, as his mother did not make it to Denver. On Harry’s first birthday, everyone in Morrison was invited to his party–it was quite a large party.

The congregation was organized in 1953-1954. They first met at Mountain View Elementary School. The church building was completed in 1955. The name means: “Covenant: a solemn pledge of members to maintain its faith, ordinances, etc. and receive God’s blessing.”

Although included by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., in his Mountain Park System of 1914, the land was not acquired until 1935. The park served as a Civilian Conservation Corps Camp from 1937 to 1941. Surviving buildings and foundations date from this period. Listed under Denver Mountain Parks Multiple Property Submission. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (5JF979) on June 30, 1995.

About 1.5 miles long, Crawford Gulch drains on the south side of Bowser Hill. Origin of name is unknown. It is currently used by the post office to designate a mail delivery route extending from Tucker Gulch to the south end of Drew Hill Road, about 3 miles. Crawford Gulch did not have a road through the bottom to Tucker Gulch until c. 1900.

Built in 1962. Named for Marie H. Creighton. She and her husband developed the Glen Creighton subdivision.

This is a tributary (left hand) of Tucker Gulch, headwaters only. It is about one-half mile north of Half Mile Gulch and was named for an early homesteader.

A location, stage stop, tavern, and post office, Cresswell was located on what is now Cty. Rd. 65 about one-half mile northwest of Bergen Park. Cresswell was owned by W.G. Ames, was built c.1860 and operated until about 1870.

An early subdivision platted in 1884 and located about one-half mile northwest of Bergen Park on Cty. Rd. 65.

The town was platted Sept.10,1897, shortly after Charles Redfield Critchell and Associates formed the Cuillard Townsite Mining and Milling Co. In 1900, it was predicted that Critchell would become a city of 1000 inhabitants and a second Cripple Creek, but it never progressed beyond a few families, a post office, school, store, blacksmith shop and the town well. Some mines were worked for a few years but the ore was of poor quality. All traces of a mining town are gone now. An old-timer, the late Carl L. Kuehster told of knowing Alferd Packer, the convicted Colorado cannibal, as a “nice man” who helped at the store and raised rabbits in his later years. The town was named for C.R.Critchell.

Post Office opened in 1889 and closed in the 1940s.

An early school opened for school children in the early 1880s until the Lamb School opened in 1887. The Lamb School was located on a high knoll south of Phillipsburg. Classes were held only during spring and summer months due to it’s location. Nine families founded the district in 1887 with 19 children enrolled. It was the one school where Columbine, the state flower bloomed all around the school yard. In 1942 the school closed.

Traversing through part of Water District #7, this canal originates from north bank of Clear Creek near Golden and flows north and east to Standley Lake. Claimants in 1936 for adjudication were Farmers Reservoir and Irrigation Company. Construction was commenced March 4, 1902, with surveys filed with the State Engineers of Colorado on March 9, 1903. Water was first diverted into the canal the latter part of June and first of July 1910. The canal was named for T.B. Croke, one of the originators of the company to build the system, Denver Reservoir and Irrigation Co.

An element of Jefferson County Open Space Trails Master Plan was adopted by the County Commissioners in 1977. The major north-south Croke Canal Corridor runs 15 miles from Standley Lake, south to Golden. The Croke Canal trail is intersected by three east,west trail corridors; Ralston Creek, Van Bibber Creek, and Clear Creek. Named because the trail runs parallel with the Croke Canal.

The town’s name came from its postmaster, Terry Crosson, as recorded in 1879. William J. Haughtaling was post master on April 16,1885, and the post office closed August 25,1885, with mail sent to Estabrook PostOffice in Park County.

Last stop in Jefferson County on Colorado & Southern Railroad line. Discontinued in 1937.

This was the location of a gold mine in c. 1878 and a stop on the Colorado & Southern R.R. until 1937 when the line was discontinued. Few remains of buildings are left and the property is owned by a local rancher, Robert P. Colwell and his Echo Valley Ranch.

Built ca. 1872. Maggie Crow carried mail on horseback from Morrison into surrounding mountains. She had two sons, Vernon and Floyd. Her husband, Mr. W.L. Crow, came to Colorado in 1872.

The name is descriptive of the site on “crown of hill.” The cemetery is on part of the Henry Lee homestead and was purchased from Margaret Lee in 1908. Filled incorporation officers: Delos Chapel, Hugh Aderman, George W. Olinger, Julius Gunter, Vernon J. Davis. This is the site of the Tower of Memories, the Crown Hill Mortuary, and the Crown Hill Mausoleums. Crown Hill Burial park was added to the National Register of Historic Place on July 24, 2008 (5JF.4502). The Tower of Memories is separately listed on the National Register and was added on September 25, 1987 (5JF.467).

Claimant in 1936 was the Crown Hill Cemetery Association. Construction was begun April 1908. Located in Water District #7, the lake is filled from Clear Creek via the Agricultural Ditch into the Lee Lateral. On July 30, 1992, the name was changed to Kestral Pond.

The western part of Crown Hill Cemetery property was purchased with Open Space funds by Jefferson County, Wheat Ridge, and Lakewood. This is a part of the Henry Lee Homestead. The shallow lake was demoted to pond status. The new name is Kestral Pond as of July 30, 1992. Facilities include a biking path, picnic tables, a pavilion, fishing, the natural environment, rest rooms, and a walking path. All are very popular and used extensively.

Ice was harvested from the lake around 1900 and transported to Denver via the Denver & Southern Railroad’s narrow-gauge train until 1937 when the line was discontinued. 200 pound blocks were loaded into cleaned-out cattle cars. It is a private fishing lake at the present time. Was probably named for the crystal-clear ice.

Postmaster was George W. Wood, as recorded June 28,1892, and discontinued November 2, 1894, with mail sent to the Pine Post Office.

Was a stop on the Colorado & Southern Railroad before the Cliff stop. Discontinued in 1937.

History not available

from the Cultural Contexts report, 2004:

Cub Creek & South Park Road (1875)
This road was built from the mouth of Cub Creek Canyon to the canyon head, then continued southwest to join the Bradford Road.

Named from creek of the same name.

Cub Creek District was one of 4 copper mine districts in Jefferson County during the 1870s. Its mines included the Alps, Pocahontas and Woodbine.

A Denver Mountain Park of 549 acres acquired in 1922; it has picnic and recreational areas. It is accessible from Little Cub Creek Road and is named for that creek.

Built ca. 1913 by Jenne Cowan and a little girl neighbor, Bertha Marie Hebrew, who was 13 years old. Mary LaGrow bought it for her son, Curt, when he got married about 1920.