Jefferson County

Arthur Lakes (1844–1917) was an English naturalist who discovered dinosaur bones near Morrison in 1877, setting off the “dinosaur bone rush” in Colorado and the American West. Additionally, his research on mineral deposits and extraction methods proved essential to the region’s mining industry. An...

Charles Deaton was an influential western American architect best known for his Sculptured House (better known as the Sleeper House ) in the hills around Denver . Deaton is remembered as a pioneering Colorado artist whose work was an example of architecture’s shifting visual aesthetic in the mid-...

Clear Creek flows from the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass, eastward through a deep and wide glacial valley down to Idaho Springs , where the valley narrows and the stream gradient increases as it enters narrow, relatively undeveloped Clear Creek Canyon. Through Clear Creek Canyon the stream...

The Denver Ordnance Plant in Lakewood produced ammunition during World War II . The plant was the largest federal project in Colorado history before its conversion into the Federal Center , which today houses dozens of government agencies. Beginnings The federal government announced plans for a...

Like most places in the arid American West, Denver could not possibly sustain itself without water from irrigation systems. While easy to overlook, disputes over water rights began with the onset of irrigation and persist to the present day. Today, though most of Denver’s original canals have been...

Now a small pocket city in the suburbs of Denver , Golden was once the most powerful city in the state and the capital of the Colorado Territory . Today, Golden is known for the Coors Brewery and the Colorado School of Mines and as the seat of Jefferson County . Over the years, a variety of...

Jefferson County, commonly referred to as “Jeffco,” is named after former president Thomas Jefferson and covers 774 square miles in central Colorado west of Denver. Jeffco is bordered to the north by Boulder and Broomfield Counties, to the east by Adams , Denver , Arapahoe , and Douglas Counties,...

Planned and built by William “Cement Bill” Williams from about 1910 to 1914, the Lariat Trail Scenic Mountain Drive winds roughly five miles and 1,500 feet from Golden to the top of Lookout Mountain . One of the earliest scenic mountain drives in Colorado, the road provided access to the new Denver...

Charles Boettcher (1852–1948), one of Colorado’s most important early businessmen and philanthropists, built Lorraine Lodge (now known as Boettcher Mansion) in 1917 as a summer retreat at the top of Lookout Mountain , west of Golden . It stands as a particularly elaborate example of the rustic...

Morrison is a small tourist-oriented town of restaurants and antique shops located along Bear Creek in the valley south of Red Rocks , about fifteen miles southwest of Denver . Established in 1872, the town relied on George Morrison’s quarrying industry in its early years but gradually shifted to a...

Located just west of Denver near the town of Morrison , Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre combines awe-inspiring natural scenery with natural acoustic splendor. The 868-acre park stands 6,450 feet above sea level between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. The park’s amphitheater opened to the...

The Romano Residence is a one-story Craftsman-style bungalow on South Golden Road in the Pleasant View neighborhood southeast of Golden (16300 S Golden Rd, Golden, CO 80401). Built in 1927, the cobblestone house has been in the Romano family since 1929 and remains largely in its original condition...

Located north of Shaffers Crossing about forty-five miles southwest of Denver , Staunton Ranch was a 1,720-acre ranch owned by the doctors Archibald and Rachael Staunton. The Stauntons used the ranch as a second home and also operated a sawmill and hosted summer camps on the property. In 1986 the...

The Fort, an adobe restaurant just south of Morrison , was modeled on historic Bent’s Old Fort and built using traditional Hispano methods and materials. Designed by William Lumpkins, an architect internationally known for his work in the adobe and Pueblo Revival styles, the Fort served as a...

William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody (1846–1917) was neither born in Colorado nor lived in the state. In death, however, he became one of its most famous residents. Cody’s first experience in Colorado came in 1859, when he was a thirteen-year-old participant in the Colorado Gold Rush . Like many other...