%1 http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/ en William H. Dickens http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-h-dickens <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">William H. Dickens</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-12-06T13:51:06-07:00" title="Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - 13:51" class="datetime">Wed, 12/06/2017 - 13:51</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/william-h-dickens" data-a2a-title="William H. Dickens"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fwilliam-h-dickens&amp;title=William%20H.%20Dickens"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>William Henry Dickens (c. 1842–1915) was a <strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead">homestead</a></strong><a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>er</strong></a>, farmer, and businessman in the St. Vrain valley. A prominent early citizen of <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/longmont-0"><strong>Longmont</strong></a>, Dickens built the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/dickens-opera-house"><strong>Dickens Opera House</strong></a>, established Farmers National Bank, and helped organize the Farmers Milling and Elevator Company, among other ventures.</p> <p>In 1915 Dickens was shot and killed in his Longmont home. The high-profile murder drew law enforcement officers from all over the state. Although Dickens’s son Rienzi was initially convicted, he was later freed, and the murder remains unsolved to this day.</p> <h2>Early Life</h2> <p>William H. Dickens, a distant relative of the English novelist Charles Dickens, was born during his family’s crossing from England to the United States in the early 1840s. He lived with his family in Canada and Wisconsin, where his father and two sisters died. Dickens’s mother married Alonzo Allen, and hard times in the 1850s convinced Allen to join the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a> in 1859.</p> <p>Allen took his seventeen-year-old stepson with him to <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/boulder"><strong>Boulder</strong></a>, which at that time was a rough-and-tumble mining settlement. The pair had little luck prospecting, so in 1860 they left the mountains and built a cabin near the confluence of St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks, near the site of present-day Longmont. Allen’s cabin happened to be near a strategic crossing of St. Vrain Creek, and the area soon attracted dozens of other homesteaders.</p> <h2>Burlington</h2> <p>Soon after their cabin was built, Dickens began farming hay while Allen prospected in the mountains. In 1863 Allen’s wife, Mary, and their children arrived, and the family set up a tavern and inn along the stagecoach route between <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> and Wyoming. By then the area was known as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/burlington-boulder-county"><strong>Burlington</strong></a>. In 1865 Dickens built a stable barn for the family inn, and in 1869 he built Independence Hall, an early drugstore and community center. Sometime between 1865 and 1869, Dickens filed for a 102-acre <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/homestead"><strong>homestead</strong></a> near his stepfather’s cabin.</p> <h2>Longmont</h2> <p>When the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/chicago-colorado-colony"><strong>Chicago-Colorado Colony</strong></a> established the city of Longmont just north of Burlington in 1871, most of the early homesteaders picked up and moved to the new town. Dickens moved his family’s stable barn and Independence Hall to Longmont. In 1876 he married Ida Kiteley, the daughter of John Kiteley, another early St. Vrain homesteader. The couple had five children: William, Rienzi, John, Mary, and Artalissa.</p> <p>The Dickenses eventually expanded their homestead to 1,280 acres on which they farmed and raised livestock. In 1881 Dickens moved Independence Hall to another lot and built the two-story Dickens Opera House at Third Avenue and Main Street. In 1891 Dickens founded Farmers National Bank, which was headquartered at the opera house until it moved into its own building in the early 1900s. He was also one of the founders of the Farmers Milling and Elevator Company, which in the early twentieth century challenged tycoon <strong>John K. Mullen</strong>’s near monopoly on Colorado’s flour industry.</p> <p>In 1904 Dickens and his family moved into a large house at Third Avenue and Coffman Street, which later became the St. Vrain Hospital and has since been converted into apartments.</p> <h2>Murder</h2> <p>In November 1915, an elderly William Dickens was reading in his home when a rifle bullet burst through the window, killing him. News of the murder traveled quickly along the Front Range, and law enforcement came from as far away as <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/colorado-springs"><strong>Colorado Springs</strong></a> to help track down the killer. They had little luck, however, until it was found that Dickens’s son Rienzi purchased a rifle and silencer earlier that month. Rienzi Dickens was arrested and initially found guilty of murdering his father in 1915, but his lawyers demanded a retrial. Rienzi was freed by a jury in <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/greeley"><strong>Greeley</strong></a> in 1921 and immediately left for California. The crime was never officially solved.</p> <h2>Legacy</h2> <p>Today William Dickens’s legacy lives on in his opera house, which remains a popular venue for food, drink, and entertainment. The Dickens Tavern operates on the first floor, while the second floor continues to host concerts, plays, and other events. Dickens’s Independence Hall building, one of the earliest community structures in the St. Vrain valley, still stands at 329 Third Avenue. As one of Longmont’s earliest and wealthiest citizens, William Dickens played an essential role in the city’s rapid development into one of Colorado’s most important agricultural centers.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-henry-dickens" hreflang="en">william henry dickens</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-dickens" hreflang="en">william dickens</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/longmont" hreflang="en">longmont</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/longmont-history" hreflang="en">longmont history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/burlington" hreflang="en">burlington</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/chicago-colorado-colony" hreflang="en">chicago-colorado colony</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/dickens-opera-house" hreflang="en">dickens opera house</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&amp;d=TWC19050215.2.45&amp;srpos=4&amp;e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22farmers+mill+and+elevator%22+longmont-------0-">City and Country</a>,” <em>Weekly Courier </em>(Fort Collins), February 15, 1905.</p> <p>City of Longmont, “<a href="https://www.longmontcolorado.gov/departments/departments-n-z/planning-and-development-services/historic-preservation/designated-landmarks/dickens-homestead-barn-root-cellar">Dickens Homestead—Barn &amp; Root Cellar</a>,” n.d.</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&amp;d=WTE19150602.2.18&amp;srpos=1&amp;e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-rienzi+dickens+murder-------0-">Dickens Found Guilty</a>,” <em>Wet Mountain Tribune</em>, June 2, 1915.</p> <p>Harrison Fletcher, “<a href="https://www.westword.com/news/building-for-the-future-5058407">Building for the Future</a>,” <em>Westword</em>, March 5, 1998.</p> <p>Dorothy Large, <em>Old Burlington: First Town on the St. Vrain, 1860–1871 </em>(Longmont, CO: St. Vrain Publishing, 1984).</p> <p>Roger L. Pomainville, “Dickens Opera House,” National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, 1987.</p> <p>Thomas J. Noel and Dan W. Corson, <em>Boulder County: An Illustrated History </em>(Carlsbad, CA: Heritage Media, 1999).</p> <p>St. Vrain Valley Historical Association, <em>They Came to Stay: Longmont, Colorado, 1858–1920 </em>(Longmont, CO: Longmont Printing, 1971).</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&amp;d=SDM18911127-01.2.17&amp;srpos=2&amp;e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22farmers+national+bank%22+longmont-------0-">State and General</a>,” <em>Salida Mail</em>, November 27, 1891.</p> <p>“<a href="https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&amp;d=LML19211014.2.8&amp;srpos=2&amp;e=-10-1921--10-1921--en-20-LML-1--txt-txIN-dickens-------0-">Verdict is ‘not guilty,’</a>” <em>Longmont Ledger</em>, October 14, 1921.</p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Mabel Downer Durning, <em>The Chicago-Colorado Colony Founding of Longmont </em>(Longmont, CO: Mabel Downer Durning, 1975).</p> <p><a href="https://www.dickenstavern.com/">The Dickens Tavern</a></p> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 06 Dec 2017 20:51:06 +0000 yongli 2817 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org Burlington (Boulder County) http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/burlington-boulder-county <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Burlington (Boulder County)</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> <span lang="" about="/users/yongli" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype="">yongli</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/user/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--encyclopedia-article.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2017-12-06T12:19:13-07:00" title="Wednesday, December 6, 2017 - 12:19" class="datetime">Wed, 12/06/2017 - 12:19</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/field/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'addtoany_standard' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * addtoany-standard--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * addtoany-standard--node.html.twig x addtoany-standard.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <span class="a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list" data-a2a-url="http://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/burlington-boulder-county" data-a2a-title="Burlington (Boulder County)"><a class="a2a_dd addtoany_share" href="https://www.addtoany.com/share#url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoloradoencyclopedia.org%2Farticle%2Fburlington-boulder-county&amp;title=Burlington%20%28Boulder%20County%29"></a><a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a></span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'modules/contrib/addtoany/templates/addtoany-standard.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item" id="id-body"><p>Burlington was a small <a href="/article/homestead"><strong>homestead</strong></a> community along <strong>St. Vrain Creek</strong>, near present-day <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/longmont-0"><strong>Longmont</strong></a>. Founded in 1860 by prospector Alonzo N. Allen, Burlington was named after Burlington, Iowa. The settlement grew to a population of about 150 before the <a href="/article/chicago-colorado-colony"><strong>Chicago-Colorado Colony</strong></a> absorbed it in 1871.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The bountiful wheat crop of Burlington homesteader Enoch J. Coffman helped convince the colony to establish Longmont where it is today. Many of Longmont’s influential early citizens came from Burlington, including <a href="/article/william-h-dickens"><strong>William Henry Dickens</strong></a>, founder of the <a href="/article/dickens-opera-house"><strong>Dickens Opera House</strong></a>, Farmers National Bank, and several other local enterprises. Burlington was also the home of Longmont’s first newspaper, the<em> Burlington Free Press</em>, founded in 1871.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Settling the St. Vrain</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1859 Wisconsin resident Alonzo N. Allen came west with his stepson, seventeen-year-old William Henry Dickens, to join the <a href="/article/colorado-gold-rush"><strong>Colorado Gold Rush</strong></a>. After prospecting near present-day <a href="/article/boulder"><strong>Boulder</strong></a>, Allen built a log cabin in 1860 on the south bank of St. Vrain Creek, just west of what is now US Highway 287. Leaving Dickens to work the land, Allen went prospecting again, eventually establishing the small <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/precious-metal-mining-colorado"><strong>mining</strong></a> town of <strong>Allenspark</strong> in the foothills to the west.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Allen may have beaten others to the St. Vrain, but not by much, and there was plenty of land to go around. George and Morse Coffin, Illinois brothers who came to Boulder around the same time as Allen, set up farms near the confluence of St. Vrain and Left Hand Creeks. Led by eighteen-year-old Lawson Beckwith, the Beckwith family arrived from New Hampshire in 1859–60, and Enoch J. Coffman set up a farm in the area in 1861. By the time the <a href="/article/colorado-territory"><strong>Colorado Territory</strong></a> was established in 1861, the St. Vrain valley was dotted with dozens of homesteads—although they would not be legally filed until the first Homestead Act of 1862.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Forming a Community</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Although these homesteaders could call each other neighbors, they did not yet have an official town or a name for their settlement. That could only come with a post office, which the area lacked. From 1859 to 1862, residents of the St. Vrain valley had to travel to <a href="/article/denver"><strong>Denver</strong></a> to get their mail. That changed in the fall of 1862, when the Holladay Overland Stage Company—spurred by the official organization of the Colorado Territory the previous year—established a route from Laramie, Wyoming, to Denver. Thanks in part to road planning and other efforts by Fred C. Beckwith, the route passed directly through the St. Vrain settlement, using a crucial ford of the creek near Allen’s cabin. With the arrival of the stage line, a post office was established in the settlement in November 1862.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The next year, Allen’s wife, Mary, and their seven children—two from Mary’s previous marriage—joined him along the St. Vrain. With regular stage traffic now passing directly in front of their cabin, the Allens turned their house into a tavern and inn that provided meals and lodging for stagecoach passengers. Mary learned how many people she needed to cook for via a telegraph line that stretched from Denver into her kitchen.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1864 Burlington gained a school and organized a militia to defend against potential attacks by Native Americans. By 1865 the community boasted two hotels, a new stage barn built by Dickens, and the Beckwiths’ merchandise and blacksmith shops.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>In 1869, with Burlington’s population climbing toward 150, Dickens built the two-story Independence Hall. A prelude to the opera house Dickens would later build in Longmont, Independence Hall featured retail space on the first floor and entertainment space on the second. The building served as Burlington’s drugstore and community center for the next two years.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Joining Longmont</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Although the stage traffic and decent harvests kept Burlington’s hopes high in the 1860s, the community’s location near the St. Vrain bottoms made it especially vulnerable to flooding. Time and again <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/flooding-colorado"><strong>floods</strong></a> inundated residents’ land and homes.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Then, in 1871, Burlington resident Enoch Coffman was taking a load of wheat to Denver when he met members of the Chicago-Colorado Colony, who were looking for a location to establish their colony. Illinois lumberman Seth Terry and <strong><em>Rocky Mountain News</em></strong> founder <a href="/article/william-n-byers"><strong>William Byers</strong></a> led the search committee. After inspecting Coffman’s wheat and remarking on its quality, the committee visited the Burlington area. Impressed with the St. Vrain valley’s agricultural potential, the colony established the city of Longmont just north of Burlington in March 1871.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Backed with large amounts of eastern capital, the new town grew quickly. It helped that Longmont was farther from the flood-prone creeks. Burlington residents soon realized where their future lay. Dickens moved Independence Hall to Longmont in 1871 and acquired a stake in the colony, as did Coffman, who was elected to the colony’s board of trustees. The Allen family also joined the colony, moving their inn and stage barn to the northwest corner of Third Avenue and Main Street. In the early 1870s, some seventy-five Burlington residents moved to Longmont, taking their houses and businesses with them.</p>&#13; &#13; <h2>Legacy</h2>&#13; &#13; <p>Burlington may have disappeared after its residents moved to Longmont, but its contributions to the city that took its place were many. The Allens and their many descendants remained in Longmont through the twentieth century. Like his father, Alonzo, Charles Allen became an innkeeper in 1894, purchasing the Zweck Hotel—the building that replaced his parents’ inn in 1881–82—at Third and Main. Charles and his wife, Margaret, ran the hotel, which later became known as the Imperial, for some fifty years. Charles’s son, Vern Allen, worked as a local stage driver and rancher and served for many years as the superintendent of Longmont’s parks.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>The Beckwiths were another influential Burlington family. Brothers Fred and Elmer established the <em>Burlington Free Press </em>in 1871 and Elmer became Longmont’s first postmaster. In the early 1890s, Elmer established the <em>Daily Times</em>, the newspaper that is now today’s <em>Longmont Times-Call</em>.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Coffman, whose bountiful wheat harvest helped draw the Chicago-Colorado Colony to the St. Vrain valley, helped oversee the planting of communal crops in the colony’s first years. Coffman Street, just west of Main Street in Longmont, is named after him. In 1881 William Dickens built the Dickens Opera House across from the Zweck Hotel. The building served as the political and social hub of Longmont for decades and remains a popular entertainment venue today.</p>&#13; &#13; <p>While Longmont’s rapid development in the late nineteenth century is often attributed to the <a href="https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/irrigation-colorado"><strong>irrigation</strong></a> ditches and other efforts of the Chicago-Colorado Colony, the previous success of the Burlington homesteaders laid the foundation for a prosperous farming community in the St. Vrain valley.</p>&#13; </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-author--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-author.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-author.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-author field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-author"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-author">Author</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-author"><a href="/author/encyclopedia-staff" hreflang="und">Encyclopedia Staff</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-keyword--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-keyword.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-keyword.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-keyword field--type-entity-reference field--label-above" id="id-field-keyword"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-keyword">Keywords</div> <div class='field__items'> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/burlington" hreflang="en">burlington</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/st-vrain-creek" hreflang="en">st. vrain creek</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/st-vrain-valley" hreflang="en">st. vrain valley</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/longmont" hreflang="en">longmont</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/homestead" hreflang="en">homestead</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/william-henry-dickens" hreflang="en">william henry dickens</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/alonzo-allen" hreflang="en">alonzo allen</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/independence-hall" hreflang="en">independence hall</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county" hreflang="en">boulder county</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/boulder-county-history" hreflang="en">boulder county history</a></div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-keyword"><a href="/keyword/longmont-history" hreflang="en">longmont history</a></div> </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links--inline.html.twig * links--node.html.twig * links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap_barrio/templates/navigation/links--inline.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-references-html--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-references-html.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-references-html.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-references-html field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-references-html"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-references-html">References</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-references-html"><p>Dorothy Large, <em>Old Burlington: First Town on the St. Vrain, 1860–1871 </em>(Longmont, CO: St. Vrain Publishing, 1984).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>Thomas J. Noel and Dan W. Corson, <em>Boulder County: An Illustrated History </em>(Carlsbad, CA: Heritage Media, 1999).</p>&#13; &#13; <p>St. Vrain Valley Historical Association, <em>They Came to Stay: Longmont, Colorado, 1858–1920 </em>(Longmont, CO: Longmont Printing, 1971).</p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--field-additional-information-htm--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--node--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig x field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig * field--field-additional-information-htm.html.twig * field--text-long.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-field-additional-information-htm field--type-text-long field--label-above" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"> <div class="field__label" id="id-field-additional-information-htm">Additional Information</div> <div class="field__item" id="id-field-additional-information-htm"><p>Mabel Downer Dunning, <em>The Chicago-Colorado Company Founding of Longmont</em>, ed. Mildred Neeley, Clara Williams, Muriel Harrison, Colleen Cassell, and Mildred Brown (Longmont, CO: n.p., 1975).</p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://longmontian.blogspot.com/">Observations about Longmont, Colorado (blog)</a></p>&#13; &#13; <p><a href="http://www.stvrainhistoricalsociety.com/">St. Vrain Historical Society</a></p>&#13; </div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/custom/encyclopedia/templates/field/field--node--encyclopedia-article.html.twig' --> Wed, 06 Dec 2017 19:19:13 +0000 yongli 2815 at http://coloradoencyclopedia.org