History

Over the centuries nomadic hunter-gatherers, tribes of Plains Indians, farmers, miners, dreamers, builders and entrepreneurs all have lived, worked and played in Northern Colorado.
History buffs find ample evidence of the lives and works of these people in historical sites scattered around the region.
The area?s background in farming and mining and before that as home and hunting grounds for native American people is preserved in these varied sites.
Some of the earliest inhabitants of the region left signs behind in Rocky Mountain National Park. Because prehistoric sites in the park have been vandalized, their locations cannot be reported.
Bill Butler, park archeologist, said these prehistoric sites include game drives that date back as many as 7,000 years. The people who used these drives probably were ancestors of the Ute Indians. The drives, funnel-shaped geologic features, were used to trap and ambush elk.
Two historic trails are found in the park, as well. The often-steep Ute Trail crosses the park. Butler said the Arapaho called it the Child?s Trail because it was so steep they had to take the children off the horses when traversing it. Artifacts and adjacent sites suggest the trail is at least 6,000 years old, Butler said. The Flattop Mountain Trail, which begins at Bear Lake, is also a very old trail, the archeologist said.
Just as it is for thousands of tourists today, the area the park encompasses was probably strictly a summer destination for the prehistoric hunter-gatherers who once roamed there, Butler asserted.
The remains of an old mining town called Lulu City can be found on the west side of the park. Little is left of the gold mining town that was active between 1879 and 1884. Two-foot-high log walls remain from two old buildings.
The 30-some mines dotting the park never paid because the ore found was of such low quality.
Estes Park is fortunate, said historian Ken Jessen, that many of its historic structures remain. ?They?ve been very blessed because they?ve been able to save a lot of their old buildings. In Estes Park, although highly modified, the downtown area actually has structures dating back to the original village.?
Several old lodges can be found among the historic structures in the Estes Park area. The Elkhorn Lodge dates back to the 1870s, the Baldpate Inn near Lily Lake dates to 1916.
Another landmark of the town?s and the national park?s early days is the Enos Mills cabin. Built by Enos Mills, considered the father of Rocky Mountain National Park, the homestead cabin still stands on private property visible from Colorado Highway 7.
The Berthoud area features an historic barn: the Culver barn. Built in the foothills west of town at the mouth of the Little Thompson River, the large barn is of dowel and peg timber frame construction, said Berthoud-area historian and native Mark French. The ?very, very large barn? boasts an estimated 1-million-square-board-feet of lumber. Not visible from the road, it is tucked away on private property.
French said Carey Culver, a cattle rancher from New York, built the barn in the late 1880s.
Two homestead cabins are found in the river valley east of the large barn. The Charles Meining cabin sits beside the river on Larimer County Road 4. The 1876 homestead cabin is visible from County Road 4 and is found about a mile west of the intersection of County Road 4 and U.S. Highway 287.
Journey another mile or so down the river to see the Charles Eaglin cabin, ?certainly one of the oldest homestead cabins in the valley,? built in the late 1860s. This cabin is located on Larimer County Road 17.
Larimer County Road 15 and the Little Thompson River intersect today at the place in 1874 that settler Lewis Cross decided to call home. Cross was the founder of the first settlement in the Little Thompson valley. The settlement predated Berthoud and was called Little Thompson.
Cross built his home on the north side of the river. On the south side, still in view, is the Old Berthoud School, built in about 1890.
Not long after Cross set down roots, it was decided to move the town to its present location in order to accommodate the steam locomotives of the time.
In Berthoud proper, look for the A.G. Bimson blacksmith shop at 224 Mountain Ave. Built in about 1893 of locally quarried stone, the building today houses the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum and also is on the National Register of Historic Places.
It was on present-day Loveland?s western side that trapper Mariano Medina established a settlement at a place called Namaqua in 1858. The area along the banks of the Big Thompson River is now a park and cemetery for Medina and his family.
West of Namaqua Park, stands Mariana Butte, a prominent geologic feature now the centerpiece of an 18-hole golf course. Legend has it that Medina climbed to the top of the butte and proclaimed all the land he could see belonged to him. The butte is also thought by some to be an Indian burial ground.
Lone Tree School, an historic one-room schoolhouse, can be seen in Loveland?s North Lake Park at 29th Street and Taft Avenue. Moved from its original location to the park, it has been restored and is used today for educational programs about school days in early Loveland.
A downtown Loveland landmark, the Rialto Theater, is found in the heart of the city?s original business district. The 1920s vintage art deco theater once hosted everything from vaudeville to high school graduations. Restored to its former grandeur it once again hosts diverse events.
Downtown Loveland houses other historic sites as well. The city is in the midst of gaining recognition of the historic value of the Big Thompson Mill at 103 W. Third St. The flourmill was first built there in 1880. That structure later burned and was replaced. The existing structure is built of stone, brick, wood, and tin.
Just next door, at 105 W. Second St., stands the Loveland Light Heat & Power Co. building. Lee J. Kelim operated the power plant in 1905.
Go farther east to Greeley to find the historical remnants of that city?s roots as a utopian colony.
Among numerous historic sites in this city is Greeley founder Nathan Meeker?s home. Meeker, said Chris Dill, Greeley Museum director, was a driving intellectual force in the young city and also the newspaper editor there.
?He built his house way south of the downtown area at the time out of adobe to show that you could build using local materials,? Dill explained. He built south of the downtown area to show that the town would grow.
Lincoln Park, two square blocks of city park in downtown Greeley, also reflects the city?s roots. The park was laid out as the town square in 1870 and remains to this day.
?Another thing that is particularly spectacular is Ditch No. 3,? Dill said. ?In 1870, when they started the Union Colony effort, one of the first things the city fathers and mothers did was plan a series of irrigation ditches that brought water from upstream.?
Rock-lined Ditch No. 3 runs through the middle of town and is still in use.
Greeley?s Centennial Village, adjacent to the also-historic Island Grove Park, features 35 historic structures on six acres. The structures have been moved to the site and are used to interpret the history of Greeley and northeastern Colorado.
Traverse back to the west along the Poudre River from Greeley to Fort Collins where the Fort Collins Museum, too, has gathered historic structures and moved them to the museum site in order to preserve and illuminate the city?s history.
Among those structures at the museum is Auntie Stone?s cabin, a bit of the original fort that Fort Collins is named for. The fort is long gone, but Auntie Stone?s cabin remains. Stone, according to Jessen, operated the officer?s mess hall from the cabin and then later a hotel from the same structure.
The museum itself represents a historic site in Fort Collins. It is located in the former Carnegie Library building built in 1904 with money provided by industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The building is a registered historic landmark.
Just to the north of the museum, downtown Fort Collins features several historical buildings, preserved as part of the city?s Old Town business district.
West from the old town district, along tree-lined Mountain Avenue, is The Avery House. Built in 1879 by Franklin and Sara Avery, the home is a graceful sandstone confection. Today the house, gazebo, fountain and carriage house are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Poudre Landmarks Foundation, which owns the Avery House, also is responsible for restoring two other important historic sites in Fort Collins: the adobe home built by John and Inez Rivera Romero in 1927 and the Fort Collins Water Works built in 1883.
The Poudre Landmarks Foundation is restoring the Romero House as a local historic landmark and an educational site that will describe and interpret the lives of Hispanic settlers.
The Gothic-style brick and sandstone pump house that was once the Fort Collins Water Works is found west of town on Overland Trail. The structure is slated to become an interpretive center for water development.
Look for the Bingham Hill Cemetery just north and slightly west of the water works building on Bingham Hill Road. It is the oldest cemetery in the county, sheltering graves dating back to the 1860s.
Back along Overland Trail, north of Fort Collins nearly to U.S. Highway 287, is the Sam Doen cabin, which Jessen identifies as one of the oldest structures still standing in its original location in Larimer County. The cabin dates to 1858. Located on private property it is visible from Overland Trail and delineated by a marker placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Among the most historic buildings in all of Larimer County, according to Jessen, is the Overland Trail stage station in Virginia Dale, north of Fort Collins and near the Colorado-Wyoming state line. Built in 1862 the station remains to mark the way traveled by the wave of immigrants headed west. Located on private land, out of view of U.S. Highway 287 to the south, it is open to the public just once a year in May. The Virginia Dale Community Club owns and maintains the stage station.

rendezvous

The list of historic sites here is just a taste of the history the region offers. Information about historical sites in Northern Colorado is available from a variety of sources. The best place to start in each of the various communities is with their museums:

SPONSORED CONTENT

How Platte River Power Authority is accelerating its energy transition

Platte River Power Authority, the community-owned wholesale electricity provider for Northern Colorado, has a history of bold initiatives.

? Loveland Museum/Gallery, (970) 962-2410.
? Fort Collins Museum, (970) 221-6738.
? Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum, Berthoud, (970) 532-2147
? Estes Park Museum, (970) 586-6256
? Greeley Museums, (970) 350-9220.