HISTORY

The research and writing of these historical sketches was done by Jan Brescia, Coal Creek Canyon and Mary Ramstetter, Golden Gate Canyon.

COAL CREEK CANYON

Coal Creek, named for deposits of coal found along its banks from Marshall through Louisville and Lafayette to Erie, carved the canyon that bears its name.

Coal Creek Canyon runs from the top of Wondervu Pass, with its breathtaking views of the Arapahoe Range, to the Rocky Flats, where the Front Range of the Rockies meets the plains. Although the Community Plan applies only to the Jefferson County section of the canyon, this historical survey will address all of Coal Creek Canyon.

State Highway 72, which provides easy access to the canyon today, was once the Coal Creek and Black Hawk Wagon Toll Road. It was formally approved for operation by the Colorado Territorial Session on February 2, 1866. Teamsters hauling supplies to miners in Black Hawk paid 60 cents at the mouth of the canyon and another toll at Black Hawk. The 1870 Federal Census listed 57 people living in the Coal Creek precinct. Most of the men listed their occupation as teamster, while others were farmers, sawmill workers, or laborers. There were eight women keeping house, and 20 children. Among the names were 25 year old Michael McNamara and his wife Ellen; their great-great-grandsons, William and Edward Hogan, still live and ranch along Highway 93.

In 1883, Jefferson County Commissioners agreed to survey Coal Creek Canyon Road, and to appoint an overseer to maintain it. After a flood washed out the road in 1894, the commissioners paid laborers $1.75 a day to rebuild it. The road followed the creek and was maintained by residents hired to grade it with a team of horses and a plow. A line of rocks, pushed by these plows, can still be seen today north of Highway 72 at the mouth of the canyon.

After mining declined and the Homestead Act made land available to settlers, the canyon was populated by immigrants from Germany, Sweden, and England. Charles Anderson was granted the first homestead patent in 1873 for 160 acres in Section 18. Other early pioneers in the 1880s and 1890s were August Brumm, whose grandson, Leavitt Booth, still lives in the canyon, John Caspar, George Rand, Robert Eckhardt, Nils Nilson, James O'Brien, and Bruce Edwards, whose daughter, Lois Ranson, still lives in Plainview. Charles and Louisa Caspar Wilson settled at the mouth of the canyon, and their grandson, John Boyle, lived on the family ranch until he sold it recently. Between 1900 and 1920, Harry Jackson homesteaded the present Copperdale Ranch, Nels Bengson ranched at Beaver Creek north of Twin Spruce Rd., William Seeley lived on the north slope of Blue Mountain, and Arthur G. Seaver bought land on the north and south sides of the road near the present Chapel-in-the-Hills.

Frank Terrell's home, today it is 30410 Highway 72, served as a stagecoach stop, inn, and dance hall. There was a stable for the horses, and a veranda porch for socializing. The homesteaders erected a one-room log cabin as a school at what is now 10607 Twin Spruce Rd. Mr. Booth has a picture of the school, dated 1893, with his Aunt Alvina and Uncle Gus Brumm as students. Children attended school from May 1 to September 30, because it was too difficult to travel in the winter, and some children boarded out with relatives in Golden or Nederland if no teacher was available. The families ranched, farmed, and cut timber for railroad ties, mine props, fences and buildings. Supplies were purchased in Arvada or in Golden.

David Moffat, Denver mining king and financier, brought the Denver Northwest & Pacific Railroad to the canyon at the turn of the century. He wanted to build a line from Denver west to Salt Lake City in order to bypass the southern route previous railroads had taken to avoid the treacherous mountains. Known as the Moffat Road, the line was surveyed from July to November of 1902, and work began in December, 1902. Steam engines could not be brought to the steep site, so the men used mule packs, dug the grades by hand, blasted the rocks with dynamite, and drilled the tunnels by hand. On June 23, 1904, the first train steamed into Mammouth, today's Tolland, bringing sightseers from Denver to picnic and pick wildflowers at Yankee Doodle Lake. The trestle crossing Coal Creek was 265 feet long and 60 feet high. It stood until 1938 when a devastating flood washed out the road and damaged the bridge. It was replaced with the current 40 foot span, built 250 feet west of the old bridge. A post office and grocery store also were built at the Crescent Station train stop, where the railroad tracks cross Gross Dam Road today.

The canyon population grew very slowly from 1910 to 1940. A new school was built at 29280 Highway 72 in 1916. It was known as the "Columbine School", in Jefferson County District 27; in 1948 it was expanded into a home. Another school was built near Plainview off the main road in 1935; this was used until May, 1951, when children were bused to Golden. A small grocery store and restaurant was built in 1932 on the southwest corner of Highway 72 and Twin Spruce Rd., described as "soup kitchen for wood haulers." The site later became Marten's store, owned by Lester and Ruth Marten, and today is Cummings Realty.

After World War II, the population had grown sufficiently to require community services. In 1946, residents formed the Coal Creek Improvement Association and the volunteer fire department. In 1947, the Community Hall was built with volunteer labor on land donated by Henry Zeller. The Coal Creek Women's Club was organized in June, 1949, meeting twice monthly at members' homes. Through dinners, bake sales and bazaars, the women raised nearly $5,000 toward expanding the community hall, drilling its well, putting on a new roof, and equipping the kitchen. In December, 1949, the first firehouse was built, bermed into the side of the hill on the north side of Highway 72 and Crescent Park Rd. The fire engine, a surplus Army Command car, was donated by the State Forestry Department, and equipment was purchased through local fundraising and donations. Association members persuaded the Rural Electric Association to run lines for electricity in November, 1947. Telephone lines, with eight parties, were installed in November, 1950 from the Boulder office. A committee of Leavitt Booth, Charles Ruble, Verne Houlton, Pat Berry, and Francis Evans worked to get Coal Creek Canyon Road paved. The mouth of the canyon to Twin Spruce Rd. was paved in 1952; up to Wondervu in 1955, to Pinecliffe in 1956, and to Highway 119 in June, 1958. Property owners along the road donated rights-of-way and it was designated as a state highway. Funds were provided by Jefferson and Gilpin counties, the state, and matching federal monies.

The opening of Rocky Flats, or the Dow Chemical Plant, as it was called then, in 1951 brought new residents to the canyon. The population increased to about 500, and in October, 1958, new telephone equipment was installed, bringing the dial system to the canyon. The work was completed on February 28, 1959; the area was assigned a Glendale 8 exchange. Later known as 458, this exchange was changed to 642 in July, 1963.

In April, 1957, heavy snows of over 5 feet caused the roof of the firehouse to collapse. A new building, now Station 1, was constructed east of the old one in 1959. Station 2 was completed in 1980 and Station 3 in 1989. Fundraising was a never-ending task, so on August 10, 1959, a public hearing was held to establish a tax district for the fire department. There were no protests, and the district lines were drawn to include the three counties of the canyon: Jefferson, Boulder, and Gilpin. The volunteers fought many small grass fires sparked by trains and several large fires: in 1951, the Community Hall's floor was damaged; in 1954, a fire broke out during the construction of Gross Dam; and in 1971, 25 acres burned east of Blue Mountain Estates.

Coal Creek Canyon was first zoned by the Jefferson County Commissioners as Agricultural One (A-1) and existing businesses as "commercial" in September, 1951. Platting had begun in 1948, with the Hilltop as the first development of E.R. (Emrich Rudolph or "Rudi") Kuhlmann. These first homes were summer cabins. Mr. Kuhlmann, and later his wife, Elsie, and son-in-law, Lionel Brook, platted Georgian Woods and Sylvan Heights in 1952, Blue Mountain View, Lillis Lane, and Vonnie Claire Heights in 1953, and Coal Creek Heights in 1961. Roads were named for family members. In 1955, Walter Burke developed Burland Ranch, and in 1959, Leavitt Booth platted Blue Mountain Estates, and then Crescent Park in 1965.

In the 1960s the population had grown sufficiently to support a local school. On November 5, 1962, 60 students attended the new Coal Creek Elementary School. The architect designed the building to complement the ruggedness of the mountains, with the roof sloping to accommodate northwest wind patterns.

Today, Coal Creek Canyon is a thriving community of about 1,500, with a few summer residents returning each year. There is a grocery store and gas station, 3 restaurants, a beauty shop, auto parts store, craft store, 4 churches (2 of which meet in the Community Hall), a monthly newsmagazine, the Mountain Messenger, published by Tolene Clark, and a newsletter printed by the C.C.C.I.A. Residents enjoy a place of spectacular beauty and the spirit of community that can be experienced in the holiday dinners, blood drives, and fundraising efforts to help victims of fire and auto accidents. Through the Community Plan, we hope to sustain the North Mountains area as a place that people are proud to call home.

GOLDEN GATE CANYON

The Golden Gate Canyon area is bounded on the south by Clear Creek Canyon, on the west by Colorado 119, on the north by the northern boundaries of Golden Gate Canyon State Park and Ralston Creek, and on the east by the uplift of the foothills.

Prehistoric sites excavated in the Van Bibber drainage, incorrectly called Magpie Gulch, revealed the presence of Woodland Occupation, 600-1000 A.D. Highway construction in 1975 unearthed a prehistoric human burial in the Guy Gulch creek bed directly south of Robinson Hill Road. The bones, those of a man, 30-35 years of age, left-handed, 5-1/2 feet tall, were thrown in a gunny sack and the site destroyed without further archaeological investigation.

Beginning in the 1800s historic Indian tribes, chiefly Arapahoe, migrated through the region and campsites have been found on the backs of the mountains. Horace Greeley made extensive mention of the Arapahoe travois trail between Golden and Black Hawk and early settlers referred to the gulch, by which the trail descended to the prairie, as Indian Gulch. A U.S.G.S. error gave this name to another gulch which the settlers called Magpie Gulch for the large number of magpies which wintered there. The settlers' Magpie Gulch opens on Clear Creek Canyon and is extremely steep and difficult to climb through. As a result of this transposition, confusion exists between historical accounts and mapped locations. The Arapahoe travois trail left the prairie through the original Indian Gulch, used the backs of the mountains to reach Guy Gulch, crossed into the Elk Creek drainage and turned northwest to follow Smith Hill Road to the junction with Clear Creek.

In 1820, Major S. H. Long assigned the first known English names to landmarks. They were Cannonball Creek, now called Clear Creek, and Cannonball Gulch for the canyon through which the creek flows. In the 1830s, mountain man Louis Vasquez gave his name to this creek by locating his trading post at the creek's junction with the South Platte. Ralston was the next name to surface but it has not been determined if the name came with gold seekers in 1850 or in 1858. The earliest known written description of Golden's nearby foothills was by Rufus Sage in 1841.

Indian names for landmarks were swept away by the rapid settlement that resulted from the 1859 Pikes Peak Gold Rush. No attempt seems to have been made to preserve Indian culture, although Indian migration continued into the 1900s. Early settlers spoke of shoeing Indian ponies and of Indian amusement at the wagon roads crawling through the bottoms of the canyons instead of staying to the rolling backs of the mountains. Reports of harassment on the part of the Indians are minor, having to do with stealing baked goods and chickens from the settlers.

By Spring 1859, an estimated 50,000 gold seekers lived in the prairie settlements within sight of the mountains. Their inability to find great stores of gold in the creek beds was exceeded only by their reluctance to explore the headwaters of those creeks. In May 1859, John Gregory, an experienced gold miner who offered his services to a party from Indiana, found lode gold on Clear Creek's north fork. The news reached Denver like a thunderclap. Gold seekers poured by the thousands up the road Gregory had engineered to accommodate the Hoosiers' supplies. Today's highways follow Gregory's original route from Centennial House in Guy Gulch to Black Hawk via Colorado State Highway 119.

This road ascended the approximately 7,150 foot peak immediately north of the entrance to Golden Gate Canyon. The miners called it Enter Mountain and all lamented its steepness. A few pointed out the beauties which could be seen from the top. One of the most detailed descriptions of the road was written by Horace Greeley, who noted the grave on the face of Enter Mountain of a youth who accidentally shot himself.

This route in its entirety was used approximately 2-1/2 months. By the time a wagon toll road was punched through the canyon south of Enter Mountain, two miners' supply towns had sprung up near the canyon entrance: Golden Gate and Rocky Mountain cities, the second and third cities in what would become Jefferson County and the first two cities to supply the Gregory diggings.

Golden Gate was literally Golden's Gate City, founded by Tom Golden and named for two tall rock columns immediately inside the canyon entrance. From a distance, the columns resembled Mother Hubbard and a man wearing a flat hat. Both columns were toppled when the road was moved from the south side of the creek and up the mountainside in the 1900s. The tumbled remains of a portion of the rock gate are visible on the hillside above the road. Golden's Gate City, also known as Gate City, was also called Baled Hay City for the large amounts of baled hay sold there.

Rocky Mountain City, east of Golden Gate, appears to have lasted only a year or two at best. The canyon to which Golden Gate gave its name was also called Eight Mile for the distance from the prairie to the top of the canyon. In the 1860s the canyon got another name which came to be the official name for the water drainage itself: Tucker Gulch.

Alfred Tucker settled in Golden Gate City in the early 1860s and claimed the land previously surveyed for townsites. He also claimed the toll road up the canyon and took the road's builder, Dan McCleery, to court. The court awarded Tucker possession. In 1862, Tucker began collecting tolls in the canyon. The demise of Golden Gate City has been laid to Tucker. It has also been laid to the opening of Clear Creek Canyon in 1863 to wagon traffic. This latter reason was probably invalid as the Clear Creek wagon road washed out constantly and was eventually abandoned. By 1872, when the railroad was built up Clear Creek Canyon, Golden Gate City had already withered away. But Tom Golden's name remained: a mountain called both Mt. Tom and Golden Peak, the town of Golden, Golden Gate State Park, and Golden Gate Canyon.

The base of the original Gregory road and the sites of several Golden Gate buildings, including a hotel, were located east of the Golden Gate Canyon entrance at approximately the Jefferson County Shop site.

Other well-known names dating from gold-rush days are Michigan Hill, named by freight haulers from Michigan; Mt. Douglas, possibly named for Illinois Congressman Stephen Douglas, Lincoln's unsuccessful opponent in the 1860 presidential race; Smith Hill (Gilpin County) for road builders E.B. and N.K. Smith; Belcher, Bowser, Drew, Guy, and Robinson hills, and Crawford and Guy gulches, all for early settlers.

Some of the five one-room grade schools took their names from their locations. There was also one unnamed school on Belcher Hill prior to the opening there of the Belcher Hill School. All served as community centers for a wide variety of get-togethers including dances and Sunday School. One church, no longer in existence, was erected near the Belcher Hill Road.

The Union Pacific Railroad (using the Colorado Central name) operated through Clear Creek Canyon until 1941, with seven stops within the canyon itself. There was also a Union Pacific railroad stop at the mouth of Ralston Creek.

The Golden Gate Canyon environment has been more or less under siege since gold seekers arrived on the scene, a pick in one hand, a match in the other. The fires, set to locate rock outcroppings, were called the "miners' fires" and took a considerable toll on human life. Eventually the fires were declared illegal by a court in Denver.

Travelers plinked away at every animal in sight for target practice.

The traffic in the canyons stirred up so much dust that dray animals choked and died and the resulting stench caused travelers to insist that the dead animals be hauled away.

Prior to World War II agricultural and timbering interests severely depleted the native pastures and greatly reduced wildlife habitat. Meadowlands were plowed up and, as a consequence, washed away. Extensive timbering denuded the hillsides and resulted in severe gullies. Ironically, many of the trees cut down were so huge that they were left to rot where they fell. Wildlife was overhunted and well into the 1940s hunters searched for days to find a track, and then tracked that track for days to find the animal.

The Schwartzwalder Mine has produced uranium since the 1950s.

In more recent years, the public and private sectors have extracted gravel from area pits and mining operations continue to be proposed.

Since World War II, the region has evolved into a bedroom community. This change has gradually reduced pressure on the native grasses, timber and wildlife. Jefferson County's White Ranch Open Space Park and Golden Gate Canyon State Park are jewels in the crown of the area. Another asset has been Senate Bill 35 which required County regulation of subdivision development.

The two historical sites remembered by markers in the Golden Gate Canyon area are inside the mouth of Tucker Gulch at what is called Quarter-mile Gulch. A plaque on a granite rock commemorates Tucker's toll road. The second marker is located at Centennial Ranch house on Golden Gate Canyon Road. It is hoped that our historical heritage will be better commemorated than the Indian culture has been.