Broomfield has formed a new Sister City relationship with the sovereign nation of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. Below is a short video documenting the elders’ visit to Colorado and the ceremony.
Mayor Guyleen Castriotta and the Broomfield Historical Society’s vice president, Andrea Margheim-Minnich, addressed local residents and elders of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes on this historic occasion.
The Broomfield Historical Society supports the Sister Cities in their efforts to carry out their mission: Examining the past; pursuing conciliation in the present; seeking better pathways for the future; and supporting peace and goodwill.
Visit the City and County of Broomfield’s website for more information about last month’s Sister City Celebration.
Click on the video below to see the story of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes’ visit to Colorado.
Broomfield History
The Broomfield Depot Mystery Lock
The Mystery Lock
What could it be? Did it lock a money chest, a vault, a storage box, a gate or a door? The clue is its location. The lock was discovered in the attic when the depot was being moved to its current location in Zang Spur Park.
The archival description on the Broomfield.org website reveals that it is a metal Adlake-brand train track lock. This type of lock was used by the Colorado & Southern Railroad from the late 1890s to 1950 to lock switches on the track—switch positions could only be changed by railroad personnel who carried the keys. Clearly, this was a matter of life and death, as an incorrectly positioned switch could put one train directly in the path of another. In Broomfield, switch locking would have been the responsibility of the station master. This is a rather small lock though, measuring only 3.5” x 3.25”.
The Colorado & Southern Railway was formed after the breakup of the Union Pacific, Denver & Gulf Railroad in 1893 and ran trains through Broomfield until 1970, when the railroad became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Burlington Northern Railroad.
Both freight and passenger trains ran through Broomfield until 1967 when the service became freight-only.