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 …
Ranch-Way Feeds is the longest running commercial enterprise in the city of Fort Collins. It began in 1868 as the Lindell Mill. Here’s a timeline for the business. 1868 – Henry Clay Peterson and Elizabeth “Auntie” Stone build the first grist mill in the city and name it Lindell Mill. …
At one time, First National Bank was located on the southeast corner of College and Mountain in an impressive granite and terra cotta building with grand columns standing sentry on either side of the stairs that lead up to the front entrance. But in the early sixties, First National moved to a …
On Saturday, February 27, 2016, the Pioneer Association (which is a 110 year old organization started by the Coy family and others) placed a plaque on the childhood home of Hattie McDaniel, an actress who is best known for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, for which …
On Tuesday I shared the few details I have been able to glean on the lives of Harkless Hicks, his first wife Hattie, and his second wife, Josie. On Thursday I wanted to head over to Grandview Cemetery to see where they were buried. But first I had to figure …
While researching stories, such as that of Charley Clay, Hattie McDaniel, and the Collamer brothers, I repeatedly kept coming across a neighbor’s name in the census records and city directories that intrigued me — Harkless Hicks. I’ve never met anyone named Harkless before. It struck me as an odd name. But …
[This article used to come with a slideshow, but that slideshow was lost when Forgotten Fort Collins became Northern Colorado History. I’ll hopefully get this updated some day.] Click on the photo above to see the full matchbook cover. I like to use the arrow keys on my keyboard to …
While researching for the story on Miles Maryott back in October, I came across a Fort Collins Weekly Courier article that intrigued me. It mentioned a painting done by Miles that was to be donated to the Elks Lodge. I wondered if the canvas might still be around. Given that the …
[Slideshows didn’t make the transition from Forgotten Fort Collins to Northern Colorado History. Hopefully I’ll get them restored at some point.] (Click on the photo above to see the full matchbook cover. If the slideshow doesn’t progress on its own, use the arrows at the bottom of the images.) While …
It’s always a blast looking back through old newspapers. Today I thought we’d jump back to November 18, 1908’s Fort Collins Weekly Courier. I’m going to focus on the ads because the world news was rather bleak, and the local news wasn’t considerably better. (There was a dramatic explosion in a …
