Broomcorn Express

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The Broomcorn Express, Quarterly Publication of the Broomfield Historical Society
Vol. 4, No. 4, Oct–Dec 2024

Note: All photos are from the author’s personal collection.

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

“Yesterday don’t matter if it’s gone.” – from Ruby Tuesday by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

The County of Broomfield is a recent creation, only dating back to 2001. Much of Broomfield’s development is associated with the construction of the Broomfield Heights subdivision in the mid 1950s, but it should be obvious that people lived and worked here well before that time. This article is an attempt to provide a bit of an overview of the places—where yesterday is still on view—that provide historical context of the development of the area over time, focusing on public and commercial structures. This tour starts in southwest Broomfield, and roughly goes clockwise around the county until it ends in the south just over the county line in Westminster.

Great Western Reservoir, (constructed 1903 to 1911)
Located on the far southwest side of Broomfield, this manmade lake along Walnut Creek was originally built to provide irrigation water to the Zang Ranch. It became the primary water supply to Broomfield as development of Broomfield Heights proceeded in the mid-1950s. Following detection of contamination by plutonium in runoff from the Rocky Flats nuclear facility to the west, it ceased to be used for drinking water. The reservoir sits within open space and currently is used to supply irrigation water for Broomfield and other communities along the Front Range.

The first Maime Doud Eisenhower Library (1963)

A building off Midway located within the Garden Center complex currently houses the Veterans Museum but it was built as the first Eisenhower Library. The land for the library was donated by Axel Nielson and Bal Swan of the Turnpike Land Company. At their request, the library’s name was changed from the Broomfield Public Library to the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library to honor the former first lady. They had originally wanted to name it after the president, but he declined and asked that it be named after his wife instead. She donated a collection of books from her family’s home in Denver to the library which  can be seen in glass cases on the second floor of the current library building. Both she and the former president came to the dedication of the building.

Broomfield Heights (~1955)

The former Zang ranch was sold to the Turnpike Land Company, who had a plan to create a city by the Turnpike with activity kicking off in 1955 offering the promise of high-class country living. The development would have water from the Great Western Reservoir and initiated work on other utilities. Originally called the Broomfield Hills development with plans to build around 1000 homes associated with their First Filing for permits, but the development’s name was quickly changed to Broomfield Heights. Broomfield Heights was the first significant planned community to be built in Broomfield.

Location: Northwest from the intersection of Main Street and East First Avenue

Railroad Depot (1909)

The railroad depot was built by the Colorado & Southern Railway (C&S) in 1909 at a time when there were only 160 town residents. The Broomfield depot was used as a stop by both the C&S and the Denver & Interurban Railroad’s trams connecting Denver and Boulder. The depot had living quarters for the station agent and his family. The depot itself was closed in 1967 and moved from its original location in Old Broomfield to its current site at Zang Spur Park on February 18, 1976. The depot building has been a history museum since 1982. 

Crawford Honey House (1905)

The Crawford Honey House was a commercial building used for the sale and shipping of honey. It was operated by beekeeper Harry Crawford, one of Broomfield’s early pioneers, who had moved to Broomfield from Ohio in 1891. 

The Honey House was part of a cluster of businesses and homes around 120th Avenue and the railroad tracks that later became known as “Old Broomfield.” Neighboring enterprises included: a cheese manufacturer (Robert & Mary Wright); dairy (Watson Colman); blacksmith (Henry & Anna Naeve); flour & feed mill (Ralph & Allice Colman); and railroad agent, general merchandise dealer & postmistress (H.H. & Florence Graves). 

Harry Crawford purchased his property from the Zang holdings and used it to maintain 500 bee colonies. The honey was put in containers and shipped by train to Denver. Its quality was recognized when he received a silver medal for his comb honey at the 1904 World’s Fair held in St. Louis. 

Shep’s Grave (1964)

Shep was a stray dog that had wandered into the toll booth structure along the Denver-Boulder Turnpike and came to stay. He was cared for by the toll booth workers and became a local attraction at a time when cars had to stop in Broomfield and pay their fee. The dog lived in the toll booth area from 1950 to 1964. Initially he was buried next to the highway, but later his grave was relocated and maintained now in a new location next to the Depot Museum.

Colorado Milling & Elevator (1916)

This highly visible reminder of Old Broomfield’s agricultural days sits beside the railroad tracks on West 120th Avenue. The Colorado Milling & Elevator Company was run by J.K. Mullen of Denver who bought the land and hired Fred Harrison to manage the operation. It is a rare example of a steel plate grain elevator. Mullen was famous for producing Hungarian High-Altitude Flour. (The “Hungarian” part of the name comes from the process used to mill the flour, which was developed in Hungary in the 1800’s & used in Colorado by J.K. Mullen’s mills starting in 1875 and is still used on some flour. The flour is milled from hard wheat from Colorado, the Dakotas, and Montana, so the “high altitude” refers to where the grain is from.)¹ 

Coors Grain Elevator (~ 1916-1920)

Locally known as the Coors Grain Elevator, it has had its name changed multiple times. It appears to have begun as Ralph Colman’s Silver Standard Flour and Feed Mill, then Nissen’s Broomfield Feed Mill & Elevator, and then became the Longmont Farmer’s Milling and Elevator Company’s Broomfield Elevator. It is taller than the Colorado Milling & Elevator & has flat sides and is clad in corrugated sheet metal. 

Broomfield State Bank (1921)

The first bank in Broomfield was built in 1921 and was called the Broomfield State Bank. It was located at 7905 W. 120th Ave in a building that still exists. The bank lasted only 11 years but could not survive the declining incomes of local farmers through the Depression. However, the bank is historic for having been robbed twice in the time before Broomfield had a police force. A robbery in 1929 lost $2000 to a man “arriving in a blue sedan driven by a fashionably dressed woman”: the culprit was never caught.²  A second robbery happened in 1930 with the robber apprehended after a car crash and wrestling match with police in Denver.

Crescent Grange (1916)

This clapboard building represents the symbolic center of the Old Broomfield farming community. The building has undergone few changes since its original construction and is a good example of a wood frame building with elements of Greek Revival architecture.³  It was an important community social gathering place for community meetings and dances.

Lakeview Cemetery (1890)

The original cemetery for the Broomfield area, it appears to have started in operation in 1890. Although only 42 gravestones are still there, the actual number buried there is likely to be about 125 to 140 with the last interment in 1959. A marker installed in 2013 names the individuals who are documented to be buried there.⁴

Brunner Farmhouse (1908)

The Brunner Farmhouse was originally located at 120th Ave and Sheridan and was donated to the city for historic preservation. Its current location along Main Street adjacent to The Field open space was land from a different farm owned by the Kozisek family. When the 1908 house was moved to its current location in 1998, parts of the interior were damaged and needed to be restored. The building itself became a designated historic building in 2007 and is used as a meeting place for non-profit groups while the surrounding gardens are open to the public.

Brozovich Beacon (2012)

The Beacon is a piece of public art designed by sculptor Tim Upham. It is 27 feet high and sits in a small community park beside a lake near Anthem Ranch. The City Council approved spending $46,900 for the work- which is both lighted as well as a kinetic sculpture that turns in the wind. The piece is named for the Brozovich family that had done dry wheat farming at the site. The city’s Public Art Committee at the time had chosen a theme of “Earth Meets Water, Mountains Meet Plains, and Past Meets Future” that proposed projects needed to adhere to—which still resonates well about Broomfield today.

Westlake School (1902)

Built in 1902, this brick building stayed in use as a school until 1990. When it opened it supported 48 students from first to eighth grades and served as a community center. In the 1930s, it was one of the first schools to offer a hot lunch to students. Safety concerns about limited exit doors forced its closure in 1952, but the needs of the growing Broomfield population drove its reopening as a middle school. Before its final closure it also served as a high school and preschool.⁵

Metzger Farmhouse (~1800)

Located on the eastern border of Broomfield with Westminster, sits an intact example of a mid-century farm. It is named for John Metzger, a Denver lawyer who served as Colorado’s attorney general and bought the property in 1943. The buildings are architecturally important examples of the Colonial Revival style. The farmhouse itself was constructed in the 1800s, but was extensively remodeled and expanded by the Metzger’s in the 1950s. In 2013 the site was added to The National Register of Historic Places and the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties⁶.

1st Bank Center (2006)

This imposing structure that was part of Broomfield’s more recent history won’t be preserved. Opened at the end of 2006 as the Broomfield Event Center, then relabeled the Odeum Colorado, the building currently named the 1st Bank Center has a highly visible location along Highway 36 at the eastern edge of the Arista development. The building was designed by Sink Combs Dethlefs, prominent large structure architects who are still quite active along the Front Range. It is due to be demolished 17 years after it was built due to its high costs to maintain and its inability to attract enough business compared to other similar venues around Denver.  

Church Stagecoach Well (1864)

Located just South of the Broomfield border in Westminster in Jefferson County, is a well which is believed to date to 1864 that was used to provide water at a for stagecoach stop for animals and people on the property of homesteaders George and Sarah Church. It is the only surviving remnant of Church’s Crossing Stage Stop, which operated until 1869 and was mostly destroyed by fire in the 1920s.⁷

End of the Tour

That concludes our tour, and hopefully sheds some light on the cultural heritage of Broomfield through the remaining visual reminders of Old Broomfield and its agricultural services past along West 120th Avenue, and on to the turnpike, schools and library associated with supporting the Broomfield Heights planned subdivision. They help us remember that there were  people, activities, and industries which were once core to Broomfield’s development, even though their time may have passed. Perhaps most importantly in an area still seeing active new growth and development, these old structures make us look different than surrounding communities in Boulder, Jefferson, Weld, and Adams counties by enhancing the distinctiveness of Broomfield and creating a sense of place beyond just a collection of subdivisions. Promoting awareness of the existence and location of these landmarks that honestly look nothing like modern construction serves as a first step in understanding their value to us today. When light rail finally makes its way here, it will probably follow the same railroad path that led to the development of Old Broomfield. We can imagine it may trigger renewed interest and a resurgence in a historic part of town that recently has been largely bypassed that still has remaining original structures.

Endnotes

1. “Hungarian Unbleached All-purpose – Sourdough Home,” n.d. https://www.sourdoughhome.com/hungarian-bleached-all-purpose/.

2. Enterprise, Broomfield. “On History: Broomfield State Bank Saw Two Robberies in Its Brief Life.” Broomfield Enterprise, May 16, 2010. https://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/2010/05/16/on-history-broomfield-state-bank-saw-two-robberies-in-its-brief-life/.

3. Corbett, Kathleen, Daniel Shosky, Thomas Witt, Nelson Klitzka, Elizabeth Kreider, Sean Doyle, and Kathryn Dunn. “Survey of Historic Buildings within the 120th Avenue Corridor and Broomfield Heights Filing 1, Broomfield County, Colorado.” Broomfield.org, July 2009. Accessed April 6, 2024. https://www.broomfield.org/DocumentCenter/View/26950/2009-Survey—120th-Avenue-Corridor-and-Broomfield-Heights.

4. Enterprise, Broomfield. “Lakeview Cemetery Memorial Pays Tribute to Broomfield’S Early Residents.” Broomfield Enterprise, May 13, 2013. https://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/2013/05/13/lakeview-cemetery-memorial-pays-tribute-to-broomfields-early-residents/.

5. “Westlake School | Colorado Encyclopedia,” n.d. https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/westlake-school.

6. “Metzger Farm | History Colorado,” March 20, 2013. https://www.historycolorado.org/location/metzger-farm.

7. Caldwell, Patrick. “Church’s Stage Stop Well Landmarked in 2015,” 2015. https://historicjeffco.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/hjlandmarkchurchs-2015.pdf.

Read all of our Broomcorn Express Issues here!

Read the full issue!

The Broomcorn Express, Quarterly Publication of the Broomfield Historical Society
Vol. 4, No. 4, Oct–Dec 2024

By Edward Smith 

Used with permission of the author and edited for length by Roberta Depp, Broomfield Historical Society.

Note: Mr. Smith’s elementary school memories were published in the Broomcorn Express, Vol. 2, Issue 3, Fall 2022. This piece continues his recollections during his junior high and high school years in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

I began seventh grade in the new school on Elmhurst Place between Garnet Street and Emerald Street. It was called Emerald Street Elementary School, as it was designed eventually to be an elementary school. At this point, it housed seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. The students in the ninth grade were to be the first graduating class of Broomfield High School in 1962. It was nice to be in a “real school.” It even had a gymnasium where we had gym classes, student assemblies, and programs. The out of bounds part of the basketball court was about three feet from the wall of the gym. One time, when I was chasing a loose ball, I could not stop myself and accidentally kicked the wall with my foot. I broke my big toe. It sure did hurt for a long time, and I didn’t play basketball for the rest of the season. At one assembly, there was a person who came in and did a demonstration with liquid oxygen. I was impressed when he froze a hot dog and then shattered it with a hammer. The school has since been torn down and replaced with new facilities. 

Mr. Bealer was the science teacher. That’s where I got my introduction to the scientific method. We also learned about the scientific classification of plants and animals. Many of my classmates could not have been less interested in plant classification, but I thought it was fascinating. During science class, there was an educational movie called “Hemo the Magnificent,” which we got to watch every year for several years. It was about the circulatory system and had pictures of blood flowing through veins. It was pretty cool but got boring after seeing it so many times.

Mrs. Clark was the math teacher. She made math fun and was my favorite teacher. There are two things I remember about her class. With a gleam in her eye, she would say that if we didn’t behave, she would take the offending student over her red checkered apron and give him/her a good swat. It was a good-humored joke, and we all knew it. The other thing was that at the end of each class she would pass out a sheet of math problems to each student and then give us a minute to do all the problems. Each sheet would either be simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division problems. If I remember right, there were one hundred problems on a sheet. It may sound like a lot of problems to solve in a minute, but by doing it every day, we became proficient and quick with the answers. The exercise turned into a race to see who would be the first one to finish with the most correct answers. We exchanged papers and graded them to find out who was best that particular day. It was a good way to get us to memorize addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables to twelve.

There was a detached building which was used as a shop class on the lower level and a music room on the upper level. It was on a hillside, so the lower level was a walkout basement. The shop teacher was Mr. Ralston. All I remember about that class was learning to draft and then using some hand tools. We had to draw the plans for a sanding block from the top, side, and end and then take a block of wood and manufacture what we drew with hand tools. The sanding block was a rectangular block with beveled edges on four edges of one face. Sounds easy, but using a hand plane to make the bevels was hard. Mr. Ralston was insistent that the bevels be at forty-five degrees and would come by and check with his square on our progress. 

Eighth through twelfth grade was at the new Broomfield High School at 1 Eagle Way, which opened in the fall of 1959. Sometime during either fifth or sixth grade, we got to pick the school colors and mascot for the [planned] Broomfield High School. The winning colors were blue and white and with an eagle [mascot]. It seems to me that was a little early to be choosing colors and a mascot for a non-existent high school. The classrooms have been demolished and replaced, but I think the original gym is still being used. It was a flat-roofed, single-story building typical of the type of school being built in the late fifties and early sixties. It was rectangular in shape with classrooms around the perimeter and the lockers, restrooms, library, counselor’s office shop, home economics room and a teachers’ lounge in the middle, with a hallway between the classrooms and the interior facilities. The administrative office was right by the front entrance, along with a small lounge area used as a lunchroom for the students who brought lunches. The gym was a detached building southeast of the school. 

At some point after eighth grade, the school district went on split sessions due to the influx of new students being more than what the school could handle. After the school split sessions, the lounge was not used as a lunch area. The morning high school classes were over at noon, and junior high classes were taught in the afternoon, eliminating the need for a lunch area.

The high school needed to become accredited, so everyone in the school went through the process. I guess it was quite stressful for the staff, as they were on edge throughout the whole process. The process didn’t affect me other than the teachers stressed that students had to be on our good behavior in and out of class. The classes were observed, and accreditation was received.

In order to graduate, students had to take several years of science, English, math, social studies, and physical education. One could pick from the following classes, which I extracted from my school’s annual book, to meet the requirements: biology, algebra, trigonometry, physics, chemistry, social studies, American history, Western history, American problems, English, Spanish, French, Latin, shop, drafting, music, band, art, speech & drama, typing, home economics, business, office practice, reading, and journalism. My favorite subjects were anything science- or math-related, such as biology, chemistry, algebra, and physics. I didn’t take trigonometry as a lot of the students who had taken the class said it was very hard. I took it in college and found it an easy class. 

I also took driver’s education class. I’m not sure of its affiliation with the school as it is not listed as a subject in my 1964 school annual. My dad had told me not to harass him about getting a license when I was sixteen and that he would decide when I was ready to get one. When driver’s education class was available in the spring of 1963, I was sixteen and one-half years old. He let me take it. I was probably the last one in my class to get a driver’s license, as most kids got one as soon as they were eligible. Classroom instruction was about learning the rules of the road in order to get a driver’s license, but what I remember most is having to watch black-and-white movies of car wrecks with the police, ambulances, injured people, and blood—lots of blood. I’m sure the intent was to scare us into driving responsibly. I know it got my attention. Of course, we had to learn to drive in addition to classroom studies. I had been driving pickups and plowing with tractors in my uncle’s dryland wheat fields around Broomfield and pretty much knew how to drive. The car used in the class was a clutch-operated standard three-speed transmission. When it was my turn to drive, the instructor asked me if I had ever driven a car. I told him no, which was the truth, as I had only driven tractors and pickups. He knew immediately when I started out without stalling the car and shifting gears with ease that I had driven something. After that, he asked the other students who hadn’t driven yet if they had driven anything. Well, he didn’t kick me out of the class for being a smart ass [and I] passed the class and immediately got my license.

There was one time that we were given a test taught by Mr. Keefer or Mr. Schott, who taught history and geography. We were told to read the directions at the top of the first page of the test. The directions at the top of the page said to read the multiple-choice test completely before answering any questions. I started to read the questions and realized I would not have time to go back and answer all the questions during the class period. I looked around the room and saw many students answering questions. I was tempted to do the same but ended up following the directions. The last question was something like this: “If you haven’t answered any questions on the test, bring it up to the front desk to receive your perfect score.” There were not many students that got a perfect score. I was one.

The Rocky Flats facility was nearby. It was a secret at the time what was done there, but we had safety drills on occasion in case there was a nuclear attack on the plant, Denver, or Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs. All a drill involved was taking cover on the floor. If Rocky Flats was the target and was hit, I doubt anything we did would have been enough to save us. 

Times have changed over the years, and one example I have is that when the high school was on split sessions, one of my friends would bring his shotgun to school and store it in his locker so he could go hunting right after school. The Principal, Mr. Lewis, was usually outside the administration office greeting students and would say to my friend, “Going hunting after school today?” There was no concern about anyone’s safety or something bad happening. Can you see that happening in today’s world?

I was in gym class November 22, 1963, when I found out that President Kennedy had been assassinated. Our gym teacher, Mr. Harper, called us together, had us sit on the floor of the gym, and told us what had happened. It was a pretty somber group after that. We were on split sessions and gym class was the last class of the day. After class I went home and spent the rest of the day watching events unfold on the television. There was no school on Monday, so I watched the funeral. I think the most moving part was when John Jr. saluted his father’s casket. It was his third birthday.

One spring day in May 1963, an outhouse mysteriously appeared on the roof of the entryway of the high school. I don’t know who the perpetrators were, and it disappeared by the next day. My guess is that the Senior class had something to do with it.

For a new high school, we had fairly good sports teams. When I was a senior, the football team went to state and lost in the first round with a score of 2 to 0. The basketball team won the Broomfield Invitational Tournament. The wrestling team placed seventh in state out of fifty-five schools, with two wrestlers finishing third place in their weight divisions. The baseball team won the single A state championship in 1963 by beating Palisade 7-3 and lost to Fruita in the semi-finals in 1964. In track, one of the weight men set a record for the shot put, which I learned at our classes of the ‘60s reunion in 2001, hadn’t yet been broken. 

I wanted to play football and wrestle, but my dad said no. In those days, I did what my dad said. He was concerned I might get hurt. I can understand his thoughts about football, since I doubt I weighed one-hundred pounds until my junior year. It made no sense to me that I couldn’t wrestle since I would be wrestling someone my size. We had to wrestle in gym class and there was a wrestler on the wrestling team that wrestled 103 pounds. I had to wrestle him in gym class, and he could not beat me. I was tall and skinny and had leverage that he could not overcome. I think we tied, or I beat him because he was really angry when we were through wrestling. 

Baseball was my sport. I played summer ball with the local Lions Club sponsoring Old Timers’ Baseball. When it came to playing ball in school, I felt like I didn’t belong with the other jocks and didn’t try out at first. Eventually I tried out as a junior and made the team. I didn’t play in every game but did get on the field on occasion. I played left field. At one point during my senior year, I hadn’t hit a home run like the center fielder and right fielder had done. Well, when we would go to the outfield and loosen up by throwing a ball around between innings, they would give me a hard time about warming up with them since I had not hit a home run. There were no outfield fences at most of the fields we played on, and they both had home runs due to the fact that they hit the ball between the outfielders and the ball rolled forever. By the time the outfielder chased the ball down and threw it to the infield, they had their home runs. I did finally get a home run and one upped them when we were playing Evergreen. There was a fence around the outfield in Evergreen, and I hit the ball over the centerfield fence. I thought that more than made up for any home run they hit. They didn’t give me a hard time after that. 

I didn’t play as much as I would have liked as a senior since my dad found a job for me on weekends, and he required that I work on Saturdays. Some games were scheduled for Saturdays, and I wasn’t able to attend. My coaches thought that baseball was more important than working, as did I, but it made no difference to my dad. As a result, I didn’t play as much in games scheduled during the week as a punishment. Coaches wanted players who were 100% committed. As I look back on it now, I only had a few Saturdays of baseball left in my life and a whole lifetime of work. I doubt that argument would have held much weight with my father. He grew up during the Depression and felt that a person should take any job offered. One never knew when another opportunity would present itself. As it turned out, the job he found for me paid my way through college. I returned to work the same job every summer until I graduated from college. 

We went to Grand Junction in 1963 for the state championship baseball game. We did not use buses going to Grand Junction for the game. The coaches and a few teachers drove their cars. The car I was in had one of the players who was originally from back East. He called shotgun, which meant he got to ride in the front passenger seat. Interstate 70 hadn’t been built yet, so we had to go over Loveland Pass, which was his first time in the mountains, let alone going over a pass. He did fine until we got on the pass. He was certain we were going to go off the road and be killed. I thought he was going to get in the driver’s seat. I’m sure he didn’t call for the shotgun position on the way home.

The Junior Senior prom in 1964 was held May 2nd at the Capri Motel on 104th and I-25. I wanted to go, but that would involve inviting a girl. I was shy and it took all I had to ask a gal out. Well, I asked Roberta Pitts and to my surprise, she said yes. We had a good time. The theme was “Can-can,” and the menu included baron of beef, potato au gratin, red bean vinaigrette, macaroni salad, and iced relishes.   

There were eighty-one graduates in my class on the graduation program in 1964. Our sponsors were Mr. and Mrs. Defler, Mr. Keefer, and Miss Martin. Senior class officers were  President Dave Buckley, Vice President Brent Sutherland, Treasurer Bob Woodard, and Sergeant at Arms Mike Speedie. Class colors were Royal Blue and Silver. Class flower was light blue carnation, and the class motto was “Before we followed; now we lead.” For Denver Bronco fans, Mike Speedie was the son of one of the coaches for the Denver Broncos at that time.

When we graduated, Roberta’s parents to us to Taylor’s Supper Club on Colfax. I think they were concerned that we might go out drinking otherwise. I had no desire to do such a thing. We dated until the end of summer when I went off to college.

My mother died of cancer in January of 1963. My father remarried the following fall and purchased a home close to his work in Denver. Directly after I graduated, we moved to Denver, and I have had little contact with anyone in Broomfield since then.

Did I receive a good education?  I believe the school did good considering it was a new school with new teachers, which had to go through the accreditation procedures and had no traditions to tie the students to the school. In the end it was good enough for me to be able to go on to college and graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Wood Science in 1969. 

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