“In a dream [Jacob] saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.” – Genesis 28:12 Al Birch was a reporter from the Denver Post when he first visited Estes Park. At the time, there wasn’t much there besides some …
In 1882, Henry and Caroline Franz, immigrants from Württemberg, Germany, built a one-and-a-half story log cabin on the hill where the Clarendon Hills neighborhood stands today, just south of the Harmony Library and Front Range Community College. They “proved up” on the land in July 1886. (That means the land …
The Sanborn Map & Publishing Company produced some of the earliest maps of our Colorado communities. In 1886/7, the company drew up a forty-one page map (plus an index page) of Denver. In comparison, Fort Collins and Greeley were granted 4-pages each. Loveland, only nine years old at the time, merited …
In 1880, James and Eva Howe moved to Fort Collins where they eventually built a small one-story bungalow on Walnut street. Eva was a dark eyed beauty with a sweet and forgiving disposition. James was a millwright of great skill, but he had a penchant for drink. Though Eva was …
A friend recently loaned an old folder full of stories to me. It had been compiled in the 1970s from the scrapbook of the Society of Early Pioneer Women as well as from interviews with daughters of pioneers. Though I’ll write more about the booklet at another time, I wanted …
In an attempt to write an article about which buildings in Loveland remain that were featured in the 1886 Sanborn map, I have instead found myself mired in trying to figure out the history of the mills of Loveland. (For a peak at which buildings in Fort Collins remain from …
Scrambling for last minute gift ideas for the holidays? There are several local history books that have come out in the past year that would make wonderful gifts. If you know of any I missed, please add them in the comments. Looking to learn more about the history of Greeley? …
Happy Thanksgiving, Northern Colorado! Here are a few glimpses back to Thanksgivings gone by. The Antlers Cafe served quite a spread on Thanksgiving day back in 1907. The Cafe was presumably located in the Antlers Hotel on Linden St. in Fort Collins (the building that currently houses Pour Brothers Tavern). The …
The town of Loveland was only six years old when, in 1883, it was announced that an opera house would be built on 4th Street. The Fort Collins Courier reported the news on November 29th: “And now Loveland is to have an opera house. Messrs Bartholf and Allen will build a two story brick …
Today’s guest post is essentially an advertisement for a sleep website. (I’m not getting paid to post this here, but the guest blogger makes money through the sleep website that she runs with two other people.) I’ve agreed to post the article to the site because, despite the fact that …
Before Europeans first traipsed across the area that we now know as Northern Colorado, it was a place of open plains and wild mountains. When traveling across the land, on foot or by horse or wagon, there were few obstacles. There were no buildings, fences, train lines or highways to …
