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OAHP
Twister of Fate: Manitou Springs Garage Survives Tornado
Originally published July 2002
"Everything was twistin' around in the sky," Marie Ruppert told reporters as she surveyed
tornado damage in her neighborhood on the afternoon of June 24, 1979. Hours earlier she
spotted funnel clouds over Manitou Springs. "There was birds and trees and leaves whirlin'
'round and 'round." At least one tornado touched down on the town's main commercial
boulevard, uprooting trees, destroying cars, and tearing the roof off the historic Pikes Peak Auto
Company garage. "That was the durndest twister I ever did see," Ruppert added.
The PPAC Garage withstood eighty-seven years of changing tenants and uses prior to its neardestruction. Built as a livery in 1893, it housed carriages that transported luggage between the
nearby Denver & Rio Grande Railroad depot and various resort hotels. In 1913, after internal
combustion engines replaced horses, owners used it as a garage for the Pikes Peak Auto
Company. Later, the City of Manitou Springs acquired the building and used it as a public
works storage facility. After the disaster, the city installed temporary supports to shore up
damaged sections. In 1992 the neighboring Business of Art Center (BAC) purchased the
building and used a limited area for storage. However, deferred repairs and maintenance left it
unsafe for occupation.
The BAC, a nonprofit group dedicated to helping artists pursue successful careers, sought
assistance from the State Historical Fund to restore the PPAC garage in 1998. Restoring the
structure would not only facilitate the group's mission by providing more studio, exhibition, and
classroom space for artists and the public, but also save a Manitou Springs architectural treasure
and preserve a piece of regionally significant transportation history.
Motorcars operating out of the stone-faced Richardsonian-style structure drove the region's
tourist industry in the early 1900s. Entrepreneur and booster Spencer Penrose capitalized on
America's new fascination with automobiles by establishing the Pikes Peak Auto Company in
1912. A few years later, he and several other investors transformed the existing Pikes Peak
Wagon Road into "the World's Highest Highway." Attracted by Penrose's publicity machine,
tourists kept twenty Pierce Arrow convertibles in constant motion between Manitou Springs and
the 14,110-foot summit.
Directed by a State Historical Fund-supported Reuse and Rehabilitation Plan, the BAC
successfully transformed the former garage into a business incubator for artists. After stabilizing
sagging and rotting roof trusses, contractors installed a fire detection system, repaired a damaged
skylight, improved site drainage, and repaired stonework on the lower front façade. During the
project's final phase, workers reconstructed the garage's tornado-damaged second-floor
cornice. Design principles based on the effective use of environmentally friendly, or "green,"
materials guided preservation work throughout the project. The BAC will wrap up interior finish
work this summer.
After detracting from Manitou Avenue's otherwise inviting and rehabilitated historic streetscape
for the past twenty-two years, the PPAC Garage once again contributes to the area's authentic
appeal. On May 30, the city's Historic Preservation Commission recognized that
accomplishment by presenting the BAC with the 2001 Preservation Honor Award. Barring
another twister or similar disaster, the PPAC Garage will continue to evoke the "Pikes Peak or
Bust" slogan that called so many to Colorado's symbolic heart.
By Ben Fogelberg, Editor, Colorado History NOW
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Mount Evans Outdoor Lab School
Originally published August 2002
Beirut, Lebanon, and Evergreen, Colorado. What do these places have in common? They
might be worlds apart, but each city has been touched by one family's passion for
education. Despite their geographical separation, both cities have benefited from schools
founded and supported by the Dodge family. David Stuart Dodge helped establish the
University of Beirut in Lebanon and his son Clarence Phelps Dodge remained a trustee of the
school into the twentieth century. In Colorado, Jefferson County school children benefit from
another Dodge-inspired school, the Mount Evans Outdoor Education Laboratory School near
Evergreen.
What now functions as a hands-on outdoor school in the shadow of Mount Evans began as a
Dodge-family summer home. Clarence Phelps Dodge and his wife Regina, who designed the
main house herself, built their retreat in 1907. The family vacationed there during Dodge's years
as the publisher of the Colorado Springs Gazette, after his single term in Colorado's House of
Representatives, and after the family moved to Washington, D.C. in the 1930s. Haystack Ranch,
as it was also known, served as a relaxing summer getaway until the late 1930s when Clarence
Phelps Dodge died, and World War II placed normal life on hold. After the war, Clarence
Phelps Dodge, Jr. attempted to use the Main Lodge as a year-round residence and rented out the
other buildings. However, by the late 1950s the venture was no longer economically feasible. In
1960, Dodge sold the property to the Jefferson County School District.
Since 1961, the Dodge Ranch has functioned as an outdoor lab school for Jefferson County sixth
graders. Students live at the ranch for a week and study the history of the ranch, ecology,
wildlife, geology, and astronomy. Unfortunately, because of the property's deteriorated
condition, parts of the Main Lodge and the barn went unused by students for many years. By the
1990s, the ranch required extensive restoration and repair.
Aided by a $300,000 State Historical Fund grant, the Jefferson County School District restored
the ranch's Main Lodge and repaired the barn, guest house, and hay shed/chicken house. The
most ambitious aspect of the project, however, was that the Main Lodge was not only restored,
but it has become a showcase of different eras in American history. Rooms were restored to
various time periods: one room for each era that the house was occupied. Examples include the
late Victorian era, World Wars I and II, the Depression, and the Cold War. Not only does the
Mt. Evans school provide children with a first-hand look at historical items and lifestyles, but for
many students, the outdoor school is their first introduction to Colorado's rich wildlife and
ecology.
The restoration of the Dodge Ranch has been a long, careful process with successful
results. Contractors paid close attention to details, such as the replacement of rotting wood
beams in the Main Lodge with hand-hewn logs that correspond to the era of the house. Workers
also repaired the original stove in the kitchen, allowing students to experience what cooking was
like before electricity. Many students who return as leaders during high school have experienced
the changes brought by the restoration, and for sixth graders every week during the school year,
the ranch is a window into Colorado's environment and history. Over a hundred sixth graders a
week participate in the outdoor courses whose information is also incorporated into the regular
school curriculum. The Outdoor Education Laboratory School at Mount Evans is a great
addition to every sixth grader's education in Jefferson County.
By Rose Gaudio, Intern, Research and Publications Department
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Preservation 101: Saving Schools
Originally published September 2002
In most Colorado towns, the schoolhouse ranks as high as the church and town hall in
importance to the community. While providing space to educate the town's youth, school
buildings also serve as social centers. Preservation of historic schools, both rural and urban, has
become a critical topic within the preservation community. The National Trust for Historic
Preservation's publication Why Johnny Can't Walk to School asserted that "The landmark schools
that touched the lives of millions and became stalwart symbols of civic pride are fast
disappearing." In Colorado the State Historical Fund has assisted many communities in their
schoolhouse preservation efforts.
Many of the 250 or so people who call Crawford - a town located a few miles north of the Black
Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument - home, consider the old Crawford School to be the
community's most important building. "To many, the old Crawford School is the town," states
the narrative portion of the town's SHF grant application. Since its construction in 1906 and
partial reconstruction after a 1912 fire, the building has been the community's focal point. In
1982 the town purchased the building and now uses it as a town hall, library, and community
center. This is where residents go to vote, borrow books, and visit the Chamber of
Commerce. Local groups use meeting rooms and the annual Pioneer Days celebration and
community Halloween Party takes place here.
Built of ashlar cut stone quarried from nearby canyons, the building is nestled into a slight
hillside. Visitors enter through dual doors at the base of a three-story tower. Curved stairways
flanking both sides allow access to second floor rooms through arched entries. Three SHF grants
totaling $51,000 have supported exterior masonry re-pointing, gutter and downspout installation,
exterior wood painting and window repair. The Crawford School stands as a much-loved
example of how a school building can continue to serve the community through alternative uses.
Denver's Dora Moore/Corona School and its sister, the Hyde Park/Wyatt School, continue to
serve their original function after extensive rehabilitation. Denver architect Robert S.
Roeschlaub designed both buildings in the 1880s. The Dora Moore School educated such
notable figures as Mamie Eisenhower, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and past mayors Quigg Newton
and Bill McNichols. Architect David Dryder, who designed twenty-two other school buildings,
including the Evans School and North High School, designed a 1909 addition. Two SHF grants
have gone toward window and masonry restoration, with most of the work being done during the
summer to avoid disturbing the normal school schedule.
Wyatt School faced hard times before the New Cole Development Corporation, in partnership
with the Edison Project and a new owner, came to the State Historical Fund with a plan to
renovate the abandoned building at 3620 Franklin Street and return it to its original use. The
architectural integrity and interior floor plan was kept intact while mechanical systems were
updated and wiring for computers and current technology was run in through existing walls. The
magnificent central stairway and classroom woodwork were restored as well. The result has
been the introduction of a world-class educational program into a low-income community with
few resources.
The Denver Public Schools System is one of two districts in the nation to institute a district-wide
process to designate architecturally or historically significant schools. Rehabilitation,
maintenance, and repair standards were adopted to guide the use and upkeep of the city's historic
schools. In addition, the district includes a specific curriculum for students to study the history
of their school and its architectural style. Students learn how their school's past can be used as a
benchmark when referring to historical events. When stained-glass windows were re-installed in
the Dora Moore School, students were taught how stained glass is made and how designs are
chosen. As the sandstone was being restored, students were introduced to geology, where
sandstone is found, and how was it was formed. Preserving historic schools offers today's
students a sense of connection to their past and a sense of community identity. It's an important
lesson: To preserve a school building is to preserve a community.
By Lyle Miller, State Historical Fund Technical Advisor
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The Muegge House: Echoes of Bennett's Past
Originally published September 2002
"Clarity." Mary Ellen Dressler, President of the Bennett Historical Society, stressed the
word, repeating it so that I would understand. "The air around Bennett is so clear that sound
travels better out here." It's true. On a recent visit to the Muegge House, the town's first locally
designated historic building, I heard nothing besides my own footsteps as I walked over
unbroken prairie sod to photograph the home's restored exterior. Then, about five minutes after
12:00 p.m., I heard a low-pitched howl coming from the water tower on the opposite side of
town. The wailing horn, an emergency signal that is tested every day at high noon (or slightly
after), was designed to warn residents of a tornado, flood, or other disaster. But it also reminds
people of their town's past.
After the Kansas Pacific completed Colorado's first railroad connection in 1870, train whistles
pierced the High Plains air, heralding a bright future for pioneer ranchers and
farmers. Homesteaders that took advantage of free 640-acre government sections or railroad
land established townships along the tracks. These towns, many of which thrive today, became
commercial, shipping, and social centers.
Bennett was founded in 1877 on the KP line about twenty-five miles east of Denver. Legend
tells us that the settlement was originally named Kiowa, for nearby Kiowa Creek. On May 21,
1878 the creek flooded, drowning two sisters who shared the maiden name of Bennett, and
washing out a railroad bridge. The disaster worsened when an eastbound 25-car KP train spilled
off the broken tracks and crashed into the roiling waters. Engine No. 51 sunk into the quicksand
and was never seen again. Later, townsfolk renamed the town in honor of the Bennett sisters.
Although photographic evidence shows that the town's post office was named Bennett long
before the flood and although Denver newspapers reported that KP agents found and exhumed
the missing engine three months later, the fact remains that Bennett's past was continually shaped
by water.
Or the lack of it. In 1913 Garrett Harris built a farmhouse on his section just south of
Bennett. Like many of his neighbors, he cultivated dryland wheat, corn, and other non-irrigated
crops. His family's home, a simple front-gable wood-frame box with a wrap-around porch and
subtle Victorian embellishments, typifies vernacular High Plains architecture of its period. In
1948 Charles Muegge purchased the Harris property and used the home as a bunkhouse for hired
hands that worked the land. Over time, the home suffered weather damage from a leaky roof and
windows.
Aware that this symbol of the region's agricultural heritage, now known as the Muegge House,
could be lost through inaction, the Town of Bennett and the Bennett Historical Society
approached various individuals and organizations for help. Dent Hand, a Muegge relative and
the most recent owner, donated the property to the town. The High Five Plains Foundation, a
nonprofit group dedicated to promoting and preserving the I-70 corridor towns of Watkins,
Bennett, Strasburg, Byers, and Deer Trail, chipped in enough money to make emergency
repairs. In 1997 the State Historical Fund supported a structural assessment that identified ways
to restore, interpret, and re-use the Muegge House. In the following three years the town and
several nonprofit groups-including the Bennett Historical Society, the I-70 Corridor Chamber of
Commerce, and the High Five Plains Foundation-repaired the roof, fixed interior walls and
electrical systems, removed vinyl siding, restored the original lap siding, and added a wheelchair
ramp.
Benefiting from over $55,000 in SHF grants, the project may help Bennett preserve its rural
aesthetic before large-scale commercial and residential growth occurs. Its prominent location on
Highway 79 just north of I-70 ensures that drivers will see its plain whitewashed walls and
welcoming porch before they enter town. As Aurora expands eastward and as businesses build
across the plains east of Denver International Airport, Bennett will become an attractive place to
live for commuters. With careful zoning, annexation, and an eye-or perhaps an ear-on the past,
civic leaders know they can preserve Bennett's character despite these pressures.
By Ben Fogelberg, Editor, Colorado History NOW
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Resurrecting Historic Cemeteries
Originally published October 2002
In October, as leaves change color and as Halloween draws near, thoughts turn to the ethereal:
witches, black cats, goblins, and other denizens of the dark. The cemetery, another symbol of
All Hallows' Eve, conjures images of ghosts, ghouls, and spirits. Of course, despite their
association with the underworld, cemeteries also are places of deep historical value that
memorialize our lost loved ones with beautiful sculptural and architectural elements.
Recognizing this significance, the State Historical Fund has provided funding to restore and
stabilize grave markers and chapels located in Colorado's historic cemeteries. Planning,
documentation, stabilization, and restoration funding has been awarded to Columbia Cemetery in
Boulder, Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs, Monte Vista Cemetery in Monte Vista, Ute
Cemetery in Aspen, Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Valley Brook Cemetery in Breckenridge,
and the cemeteries of Routt County.
Some of these SHF-funded projects have involved developing master plans for cemetery sites,
historic structure assessments for chapel buildings, and restoration and preservation plans for
grave markers. Others have included physical work to stabilize and restore markers and
buildings.
According to SHF policy, only properties listed in the State or National Register of Historic
Places, or properties designated as local landmarks, can receive funds to carry out physical
work. This rule can be problematic for some cemeteries. According to the criteria for State and
National Register designation, "A cemetery is eligible if it derives its primary significance from
graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age, from distinctive design features, or from
association with historic events." (A more detailed description of these criteria can be obtained
from the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation or the National Park Service web
page.) Another difficulty hampering designation, according to National and State Register
Coordinator Dale Heckendorn, is sorting out property ownership. Permission from property
owners is one requirement for state and national designation as well as some local landmark
ordinances. "In many early cemeteries each plot was individually owned. Sorting out current
ownership in order to do a nomination sometimes becomes impossible."
Despite these difficulties, the Fund has been able to support a number of projects involving
significant cemeteries. Boulder's Columbia Cemetery, established in 1870, received five grants
to date totaling $375,812. These have included work to develop a preservation plan, document
the grave markers and other site features, and provide for training and restoration. This has been
a multi-year project for the City of Boulder and even included an emergency grant to stabilize
thirty-three headstones toppled by vandals in August 2001.
Vandalism, neglect, and natural weathering may be the three greatest threats to historic
cemeteries. Cemeteries seem at times to be favored places for vandals to carry out their
destruction, some sites may no longer inter bodies and are therefore not maintained regularly,
and markers made of natural stone are subject to the same weathering conditions as building
stone. All these conditions are present at the Ute Cemetery in Aspen. The Fund awarded the
City of Aspen a $99,500 grant in 2002 to implement a plan to restore gravestones and to design
and construct interpretive signage. This site, which was first used in 1880, is of a unique design
for its time because it displays none of the formal design elements typical in late nineteenth-
century cemetery planning. The layout of the site is random and is currently overgrown with
natural vegetation. Additionally, the site is significant for its high degree of integrity and for the
numerous Civil War veterans buried there. The City of Aspen plans to restore seventy
gravestones, sensitively remove vegetation impacting gravestones, and create paths to control the
flow of traffic through the site.
Some cemetery sites include chapel buildings used for memorial services and
gatherings. Typically, these small, non-denominational structures provided a haven for
mourning families and friends. The Fund awarded $134,975 in two grants to the Evergreen
Cemetery Chapel in Colorado Springs for interior and exterior restoration and
rehabilitation. The chapel was built in 1909 after mourners at the funeral of General William
Jackson Palmer were forced to withstand frigid winter cold and rain. The Monte Vista Cemetery
Chapel in Monte Vista was awarded $87,950 toward a Historic Structure Assessment and
restoration work. Built in 1912, the chapel is a Craftsman-style building with Greek Revival
elements-an unusual combination.
This Halloween if you decide to visit your local cemetery, please remember to not only respect
the dead (or undead), but also the historically significant features of these important sites. If you
don't, it might haunt you forever.
By Alyson McGee, Public Outreach Coordinator, State Historical Fund
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Chance Gulch
Originally published October 2002
During the summer of 2001, archaeologists renewed excavations at Chance Gulch, a late
Paleoindian campsite buried below the surface of an 8000-foot-high plateau two-and-a-half miles
from Gunnison. Supported by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Western State
College (WSC), work there began in 1999 when a crew of volunteers from Colorado and
Arizona excavated three small test pits at the site. The following summer, volunteers from
Colorado and all over the nation excavated a larger 3 X 2-meter test block and dug trenches to
determine the site's geological setting. This work, backed by the State Historical Fund, Western
State, and the BLM, proved that further investigation would eventually reveal significant new
information about the region's prehistoric inhabitants.
When project director Dr. Bonnie Pitblado contemplated a new season of work for the summer
of 2001, she decided not only to conduct full-fledged excavations at Chance Gulch, but also to
expand the traditional corps of assistants by offering ten-week field school internships to Native
American youths. Specifically, she invited high school students from the Southern, Northern,
and Ute Mountain Ute tribes.
Dustin Weaver, a Native American student who grew up on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation
in southwestern Colorado, seized the opportunity to help. Weaver wrote to Western State,
stating his wish to "learn more about my heritage, how people in the past hunted and how the
people prepared the food they ate." This response was just what WSC had in mind when it sent
out the call for interns.
When Weaver referred to "my heritage" he asserted an affiliation between his people (presentday Southern Utes) and Paleoindian peoples that inhabited Chance Gulch and the surrounding
Gunnison Basin thousands of years ago. Most Utes consider the Gunnison Basin to be part of
their traditional homeland. However, most of the known Paleoindian archaeological evidence is
located outside the Southern Ute reservation. The field school would provide Native American
students like Weaver with personally relevant archaeological experience, as well as college
credit, a stipend, and housing for the summer.
During the Ute internship program's first season, Weaver and J'Rita Mills (from the Ute
Mountain Ute reservation), as well as traditional Western State College students, archaeologists,
and volunteers, enlarged the 2000 test block and conducted full-fledged excavations. They
uncovered artifacts-including hearth charcoal pieces, chipped stone tools, and faunal remains-at a
rate of over 200 per day. Project personnel beamed with pride at each new find. They had cause
to celebrate: each artifact added another piece to the puzzle of prehistoric life in the Rocky
Mountains. Their work, again supported by the State Historical Fund, the BLM, Western State
College, and private donors, verified that early humans-including men, women, and children-had
camped at Chance Gulch 8000 years ago. According to Dr. Pitblado, intact late-Paleoindian
campsites located in intermountain basins and at such a high altitude are extremely rare.
In 2002, Utah State University assumed responsibility for the Chance Gulch project and Ute
internship program, while the BLM, private donors, and the State Historical Fund continued to
support the work. Archaeologists continued full-fledged excavations and searched for the
boundaries of the Paleoindian deposits while five Native American students, including
representatives from all three Ute tribes, joined the team. This fall, project members are
expanding public education programs with classroom storytelling, a web page, and an
educational video that will be sent to schools in hopes that thousands of children will join in the
excitement of digging up new knowledge about the ancient world.
But the project's lasting value may be more personal. Speaking to a television news reporter last
year, Weaver said that he was "beginning to see the big picture, how we used to migrate and live
and hunt." His use of the personal pronoun "we" reflects more than a scholarly interest with his
subject. It connotes a real connection to the past and to his ancestral homeland. As one Southern
Ute tribal member wrote, "The future of our young membership depends heavily on the
awareness, understanding, and preservation of their cultural, traditional, and spiritual values
connected to significant prehistoric and historic cultural resource sites."
By Ben Fogelberg, Editor
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Honoring Life, Honoring Elders, Honoring Heritage -Motto for 2002 Celebration of National American Indian
and Alaska Native Heritage Month
Originally published November 2002
This year marks the twelfth anniversary of National American Indian and Alaska Native
Heritage Month. In celebration, the State Historical Fund is featuring a project that highlights
the partnership between the Fund and Colorado's indigenous groups. Native Americans have
been living in Colorado for thousands of years. Therefore, it is no great surprise that there are a
large number of ancient historical treasures in the state. The Colorado Historical Society and the
State Historical Fund are proud to have helped preserve several of these sites.
One of these places, the Porcupine (Hoy) House in the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park, is located
near Mesa Verde. Two years ago, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (through their Ute Mountain
Tribal Park Cultural Research and Education Center) applied for and received a $39,951 SHF
grant to preserve and document the Porcupine House. The tribe demonstrated its commitment to
the project by providing over $13,000 in matching funds.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1972, the Porcupine House is a cliff
dwelling situated within a complex of Ancestral Puebloan sites called the Ute Mountain Ute
Mancos Canyon Historic District. The site was constructed and occupied in the twelfth and early
thirteenth centuries and contains about sixty visible masonry storage/habitation rooms and four
masonry kivas. It is located on two levels at the head of a tributary drainage to Mancos Canyon
in a spectacular setting under a sandstone overhang.
Researchers described the house's condition as "very fragile." Stabilization work was urgently
needed to secure severely deteriorated areas around the site. The challenge was to slow the
deterioration while minimizing the impact on the site's architectural and archaeological
integrity. As a first step, the tribe assessed the site's condition and developed a preservation
plan. Later, project workers documented the site according to the Secretary of the Interior's
Standards and repaired the foundation, re-pointed masonry mortar joints, and corrected drainage
problems. In addition, two members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe were trained in standard
preservation procedures to provide long-term maintenance for the site. A team, including
archaeologists, several members of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, and the State Historical Fund, is
still working on the project and expects to complete its work by next May.
The State Historical Fund looks forward to the successful completion of the Porcupine House
preservation project and to partnerships with more of Colorado's indigenous groups. The next
State Historical Fund grant application deadline is April 1, 2003. Contact SHF
Application/Outreach Staff at 303-866-2825 for more information.
By Rachael Simpson, State Historical Fund Technical Advisor
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The Uravan Historic District and Colorado's Atomic Age
Originally published November 2002
Signs posted outside the Uravan boarding house and recreation hall in western Montrose
County warn visitors that the area may be radioactive. These two structures, standing alone on
the lower section of the San Miguel River, are all that remain of a company town called
Uravan. To the uninformed visitor, the signs are the only indication that these ordinary buildings
served a community that mined and milled radioactive materials for most of the twentieth
century. The materials-including radium, vanadium, and uranium-not only influenced Colorado
history, they affected world events.
Madame Curie used the region's radium for her pioneering medical research, and Manhattan
Project scientists used the region's uranium in the atomic weapons that ended the war with Japan
in World War II. However, few structures remain standing to remind people of that
legacy. Amid justified fears about contamination, workers have systematically dismantled,
demolished, and buried most of Uravan's historically significant buildings and structures. The
loss spurred concerned organizations, including the Rimrocker Historical Society, the Umetco
Mineral Corporation, and others, to action.
Uravan's story began in 1881 when prospector Tom Talbert discovered a mysterious yellowcolored ore while looking for gold in Montrose County. Later, scientists at the Smithsonian
Institution identified the material as carnotite, a mineral that contains radium, vanadium, and
uranium. By 1899 Madame Curie's use of radium for medical purposes had opened up new
markets for carnotite ore. Independent miners and large companies staked claims and began
producing a significant portion of Madame Curie's radium.
In 1914 a boarding house was built for the single men who worked in the area. A year later the
Standard Chemical Company built a concentrator, called the Joe Jr. Mill, near the boarding
house at present-day Uravan. The company profited through World War I, but a sagging
economy and competition from high-grade radium-bearing ore in the Belgian Congo forced it to
close its mines and mill in 1921.
Soon after, engineers discovered other uses for carnotite constituents. In 1928 the U.S.
Vanadium Corporation bought the Joe Jr. Mill and later refined vanadium, a substance used to
harden steel. In the mid-1930s the company established the town of Uravan (named for
URAnium and VANadium) to accommodate its employees and their families. It built stores, a
post office, a fire station, schools, a health clinic, a swimming pool, and a sports field along the
San Miguel River near the mill site. A relocated Civilian Conservation Corps structure served
the community as a recreation hall and social hub. Houses, arranged in discreet blocks and
segregated according to size, flanked the central business area. About seven hundred people
lived in Uravan while federal purchases propped up vanadium prices. When the government
stopped buying in 1944, the second carnotite boom ended.
At roughly the same time, the Manhattan Project gave the company town new life. Scientists
used Uravan's uranium, recovered from vanadium tailing piles, in the Los Alamos test bomb and
in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From 1948 to 1958 the Atomic Energy
Commission sustained the uranium boom by offering discovery bonuses and guaranteed prices
for uranium ore. Thousands of fortune hunters came to the region hoping to cash in on this
federally financed mining craze. Mills at Uravan, Vancorum, Durango, and Grand Junction
operated at full capacity until the early 1960s when they began to shut down. The mills started
up again when private nuclear power plants began purchasing uranium in the 1970s, but
environmental concerns cut this mini boom short after only a few years. Uravan's mines, mills,
and town closed for good in 1984.
But Uravan's story wasn't over. The Colorado Department of Health and the Environmental
Protection Agency determined that Uravan's irradiated buildings, equipment, and tailings posed a
significant public health threat. In 1986 U.S. Vanadium's parent company, Union Carbide,
agreed to clean up the newly declared Superfund site by demolishing all remaining structures and
burying them under several feet of rock and clay. As work progressed, preservationists-
including Rimrocker Historical Society members and others-worried that Uravan's contribution
to Colorado and world history would be buried too.
Saving the buildings presented the Rimrocker Historical Society with a unique
challenge. Carolyn "Cookie" Been led these efforts before she passed away in 1999. It is a
testament to her dedication that the buildings have been saved. Before Been and her fellow
preservationists could begin the process of designation and rehabilitation, they had to convince
state and federal agencies that the hazardous buildings were worth saving at all. They helped
their cause by doing their homework. In 1993 preservation specialist Marty Alexandroff wrote a
historic context for Uravan. Financed by the State Historical Fund, the UMETCO Minerals
Corporation (the current property owner), and others, this document linked the buildings to
Uravan's remarkable history. A year later, former Uravan residents held a picnic in Grand
Junction. Alexandroff distributed a questionnaire asking them which remaining buildings should
be saved. They overwhelmingly chose the boarding house and recreation hall. Armed with a
UMETCO study showing that these two structures had the least amount of contamination of the
remaining buildings, the Rimrocker Historical Society successfully nominated the Joe Jr. Mill
and Camp (which included the two buildings) to the State Register of Historic Properties. Once
listed, the historic district was eligible for State Historical Fund assistance.
After years of patient planning, preservationists took up their hammers in 1999 and got to
work. First, Umetco removed contaminated earth from around both buildings. Then they
replaced the roof on the recreation hall; a process that required the installation of new roof
sheeting in addition to shingles. Umetco donated the labor, while the Rimrocker Historical
Society funded the project with assistance from the State Historical Fund. In 2001, local
contractors started work on the boarding house. They fixed doors and windows, restored the
historic stairway and balcony, and replaced rotten siding. They also re-roofed the building and
painted it, returning it as near as possible to its original color.
Today, the restored structures stand out from their freshly bulldozed surroundings. The mill is
gone, as are most of the other mining-related structures. In time, UMETCO's reclamation efforts
will return the environment to its natural condition, and someone will remove the signs that warn
visitors about radioactive materials. If no one had fought to preserve the remaining structures,
passersby might not guess that this place, and the people who lived and worked here, played a
significant role in world history.
By Ben Fogelberg, Editor
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Smiley Building
1309 East 3rd Avenue
Durango, La Plata County
SHF Project #'s 00-01-022 & 02-HA-030
5LP.1411.56
The former Smiley Junior High School in Durango was named for Emory E. Smiley, the
superintendent of Durango School District 9-R between the years 1906 and 1943. Smiley, who
is often noted for his ability to remember the first names of the 1,600 students that made up his
district, protested the naming of the junior high in his honor. His protestations did not meet with
success. With a design from Colorado Springs Architect Charles Thomas and funding from a
$97,000 bond and an $86,198 grant from FDR's Federal Emergency Administration of Public
Works, the School District initiated work on the new building in 1935. The contractor, Raymond
C. Whitlock, completed the work the following year for a price of $191,188. The School District
declared the building surplus in 1995 when they abandoned Smiley Junior High for the recently
constructed Escalante Middle School.
A new use emerged for the building in 1997 when three Durangoans succeeded at convincing the
local community of the viability of their vision for the old Smiley Junior High. Brothers Charles
and John Shaw and Lisa Bodwalk, Charles' wife, proposed to convert the school's classrooms
into studios and workshops for a wide array of community arts, education, and crafts
programs. The school district sold the building to the three partners, and they set out to realize
their vision. A substantial amount of work was required to mend the damage caused by water
leaks, vandalism, and years of deferred maintenance. The Shaw brothers' experience in the
building trades and Lisa's experience as a dance instructor well equipped them for the thousands
of hours they spent transforming the Smiley Building into a center of bustling activity. The
Shaws and Ms. Bodwalk, however, were not alone. Many members of the community donated
hundreds of hours cleaning, scraping, and painting the dingy walls of the old school.
In 1999 Smiley Studios, a nonprofit that operates many of the studios in the Smiley Building,
along with the building's owners, applied for and received a grant of $129,889 to restore all of
the building's wood double-hung and steel casement windows, as well as the third floor
greenhouse. The Shaws set up a window restoration shop in the building's basement, which
allowed the entire project to take place on site. The Shaws oversaw the entire project and
provided a significant portion of the labor required to restore both the windows and the
greenhouse. The finished work exhibits a high degree of craftsmanship and the Shaws deserve
praise for their success on this project.
Jim Hall & Robert van der Hoeven, both of Atkinson-Noland & Associates, and Charles Shaw,
President of Smiley Studios and Owner of the Smiley Building (left).
A second grant was awarded to Smiley Studios in 2001 to fund a Historic Structure Assessment
of the Smiley Building. The building's owners chose Atkinson-Noland & Associates of Boulder,
Colorado, to conduct the assessment and prepare the report. The building's distinctive blonde
brick is showing signs of moisture-related deterioration and failure, and Atkinson-Noland was
selected because of their expertise and experience working with historic masonry buildings
throughout Colorado.
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Rio Grande Hotel
209 West 2nd Street
Creede, Mineral County
SHF Project # 99-02-062
5ML.283
The Rio Grande Hotel in Creede, built in 1892, is one of the few remaining examples of a mining
camp boarding house. After the discovery of silver in 1889, the population of the town of
Creede grew to about 10,000 people. The Rio Grande Hotel was constructed to primarily serve
the personnel of the narrow gauge D & RGW Railway, whose original depot is located across the
street.
Around 1900, the building was converted to a single family residence and housed several
generations of the prominent Motz and Wheeler families until the early 1970's when it was sold
and remodeled back into a boarding house.
In 1983, the Creede Repertory Theatre purchased the building for use as a residential facility for
its visiting artists and entered into a partnership with Mineral County to rehabilitate and restore
the Rio Grande Hotel to its position of prominence in the town.
Although the building was badly deteriorated when the project commenced in early 2000 (top
left), investigations by Architect Mark Jones (Del Norte, CO) indicated that much of the historic
fabric remained and was salvageable. Working with the architect and with the general
contractor, Van Gieson & Company (Alamosa, CO), Project Manager Kay Wyley was able to
assure the careful restoration of most of the original materials and finishes on both the exterior
and interior of the building. The $136,000 State Historical Fund grant award was the catalyst for
a fund-raising campaign that was leveraged into over $1 million for the entire project.
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