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Golden was
established in the mid-19th century. It
served as a supply stop for gold miners heading
into the mountains. Closer to home, people
have always done some gold panning in Clear
Creek right in Golden. A lot of coal
mining took place in Golden, and a lot of clay
was extracted, particularly by the Parfet
family. The area also included several
farms, in the valley that now holds the Coors
complex.
The territorial
legislature met here from 1862-1867, in the
building that now holds The Old Capitol Grill
restaurant. Local outrage ran high when
Denver snagged the honor of becoming the
capitol.
The Colorado
School of Mines was established in 1870, by an
Episcopal Bishop. Their first building was
established where the Youth Corrections facility
now sits. Three years later, in 1873, they
opened their first building in the school's
present location. The school was turned
over to Colorado Territory in 1874 and became a
state institution when Colorado attained
statehood in 1876. Learn more about CSM's
history on their web
site.
The Pioneer
Museum's web site includes a good brief
history of Golden. It was written for
children, but adults will find it equally
informative.
Golden has a number
of historic buildings, with the earliest dating
to the mid-19th century. The oldest
buildings in town, not surprisingly, tend to be
in and near the downtown area. Local
historian Richard Gardner has built a database
of historic structures in Golden. To see
it online, visit the Golden
Landmarks Association site and click on the
"Historic Structures" link.
We currently have
three Historic Districts in town. The 12th
Street district is the oldest. It was
was placed on the National Register on September
22, 1983, and locally designated in 1984. The 8th
and 9th Street district was designated in
2002, with the East Street
district following in 2004.
Golden has a
Historic Preservation Board. Its members
are volunteers. They must apply for the
job and are interviewed and chosen by the City
Council. The Board is consulted on a
variety of issues regarding preservation of
historic structures within the city. Learn
more about the HPB by visiting
their page on the City's web site. The
page shows the current board members, describes
their charter and responsibilities, and includes
links to a number of interesting documents.
If you're
interested in keeping track of what this group
is doing, you are welcome to attend their
bi-weekly meetings. It's also interesting
to read their meeting
notes, which give you a quick overview of
issues that the group has been considering in
recent meetings.
There are a lot
of good websites covering Golden history.
These are direct links to some of my favorite
pages within those sites:
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