In early 1952, a turnpike linking Denver and Boulder, with an interchange in Broomfield, celebrated its grand opening. Colorado Governor Daniel I.J. Thornton proclaimed, “This turnpike will become famous as one of the most scenic drives in the nation.” Today, we know this turnpike as Highway 36.
Since there weren’t many jobs in Broomfield at the time, most people commuted to work using the new turnpike. When cars passed through Broomfield, they had to stop at a little house beside the road and pay a man inside: 15 cents to drive from Boulder to Broomfield or 25 cents to from Boulder to Denver. At that time there were no credit cards or express tolls — motorists paid their tolls with coins, and at the end of every day, a lot of money had been collected.
In her oral history interview, Lucille Barnett, former bank worker, says,
Every morning a state patrol would bring over 3000 quarters from the turnpike, and I had to count them. Most of them they had been wrapped. And some of them they didn’t, so I had to count them. Even wrapped, that was quite a few. I counted them by hand. Three thousand, that — well, in rolls it wasn’t that bad. But we had a cart that I put them on and counted them, and put them in our vault. And then once a week, we would have to ship them downtown to the main bank because we couldn’t use that many quarters.
We hope you enjoyed this glimpse into Broomfield history!
