National Register Historic District Nominations
Historic districts are cohesive collections of buildings associated by geography, historical development, and/or architecture.
Head Lettuce Day/Collegiate Peaks Stampede Rodeo Grounds, Buena Vista, Colorado (2016)
The 1940 Head Lettuce Day/Collegiate Peaks Stampede Rodeo Grounds are locally significant in the area of Entertainment/Recreation for its association with the annual rodeo, an important Buena Vista and regional sporting and entertainment event and celebration recognizing the area’s ranching roots. The rodeo was and is a major community event that has included a parade and barbeque as well as the rodeo competition. Known as “the biggest weekend of the year in Buena Vista,” the rodeo boasts a western theme attracting people from throughout Chaffee County and surrounding areas. The grounds are also significant in the area of Social History as a project undertaken by the Work Projects Administration to provide work for the unemployed during the Great Depression. The construction engaged about two-dozen workers and injected money into the town economy. The resource is also architecturally significant as an example of an early twentieth-century small town rodeo grounds planned and constructed by the WPA and featuring a WPA Rustic grandstand, a half-mile racetrack, and corrals. WPA workers planned and laid out the grounds to replace an earlier venue and provide the community with a more substantial and well-planned rodeo facility. The project was sponsored by the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association with funding from the State Historical Fund..
The 1940 Head Lettuce Day/Collegiate Peaks Stampede Rodeo Grounds are locally significant in the area of Entertainment/Recreation for its association with the annual rodeo, an important Buena Vista and regional sporting and entertainment event and celebration recognizing the area’s ranching roots. The rodeo was and is a major community event that has included a parade and barbeque as well as the rodeo competition. Known as “the biggest weekend of the year in Buena Vista,” the rodeo boasts a western theme attracting people from throughout Chaffee County and surrounding areas. The grounds are also significant in the area of Social History as a project undertaken by the Work Projects Administration to provide work for the unemployed during the Great Depression. The construction engaged about two-dozen workers and injected money into the town economy. The resource is also architecturally significant as an example of an early twentieth-century small town rodeo grounds planned and constructed by the WPA and featuring a WPA Rustic grandstand, a half-mile racetrack, and corrals. WPA workers planned and laid out the grounds to replace an earlier venue and provide the community with a more substantial and well-planned rodeo facility. The project was sponsored by the Greater Arkansas River Nature Association with funding from the State Historical Fund..
Comanche Drive-In, Buena Vista, Colorado (2014-15)
In 2015, the Comanche Drive-In Theater west of Buena Vista became the fifth drive-in to be listed in the National Register in the entire country. Experienced indoor movie theater operators John L. and Pearl Groy brought drive-in entertainment to the Buena Vista area in 1967, opening the facility after the peak in drive-in construction. It is Chaffee County’s only extant drive-in and the highest drive-in in elevation in the nation at 8,040’. The Comanche Drive-In represents the layout and components of a mid-twentieth century small-town drive-in theater, as reflected in the massive screen tower, rows of parking with speaker poles, attractions board/sign marquee, multipurpose projection building, ticket booth, and circulation system for entering and exiting. Drive-in theaters are a rapidly disappearing resource type: once numbering more than 4,000 venues throughout the country, there are now only 338 still open. Colorado once had more than sixty drive-ins; today, the Comanche Drive-In is one of just seven still operating. The Comanche is also notable for its continuing use of a reel-to-reel carbon arc lamp projection system—one of the few drive-ins in the nation still employing that technology that produces a brilliant white light. Buoyed by a strong local economy, the drive-in enjoyed its peak years in the early 1980s but continues to serve residents and visitors to the Buena Vista area. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
In 2015, the Comanche Drive-In Theater west of Buena Vista became the fifth drive-in to be listed in the National Register in the entire country. Experienced indoor movie theater operators John L. and Pearl Groy brought drive-in entertainment to the Buena Vista area in 1967, opening the facility after the peak in drive-in construction. It is Chaffee County’s only extant drive-in and the highest drive-in in elevation in the nation at 8,040’. The Comanche Drive-In represents the layout and components of a mid-twentieth century small-town drive-in theater, as reflected in the massive screen tower, rows of parking with speaker poles, attractions board/sign marquee, multipurpose projection building, ticket booth, and circulation system for entering and exiting. Drive-in theaters are a rapidly disappearing resource type: once numbering more than 4,000 venues throughout the country, there are now only 338 still open. Colorado once had more than sixty drive-ins; today, the Comanche Drive-In is one of just seven still operating. The Comanche is also notable for its continuing use of a reel-to-reel carbon arc lamp projection system—one of the few drive-ins in the nation still employing that technology that produces a brilliant white light. Buoyed by a strong local economy, the drive-in enjoyed its peak years in the early 1980s but continues to serve residents and visitors to the Buena Vista area. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
Commercial Hotel, Granite, Chaffee County, Colorado (2014-15)
The Commercial Hotel is believed first to have operated as a stage stop during the 1860s and 1870s on a stage road between Cañon City and Leadville traveled by the noted Barlow & Sanderson line. The oldest part of the building dates to ca. 1867-76. By about 1880-81 it evolved into the Commercial Hotel and played a vital role in the town’s commerce by providing lodging and meals for commercial travelers and tourists, a function essential for a thriving community. By offering overnight accommodations and hot food, the early hotels made trips to such isolated areas less difficult, allowing them to attract more potential residents as well as important business visitors. The building continued to function as a hotel through at least 1911. The hotel and the pre-1880 livery stable/blacksmith shop to the north are further significant as intact examples of Pioneer Log construction. Although Granite boomed in the early 1860s and for several years was the county seat of Lake County, there are only a small number of early log buildings remaining in the community. The hotel building is notable for displaying walls facing Main Street clad with board-and-batten siding, reflecting an attempt to transcend the rugged frontier environment, while less visible walls are mostly log construction with V and square notching. The Commercial Hotel and its companion livery stable are further significant as rare surviving examples of the town’s early commercial buildings. Fires in 1893, 1897, and 1939 destroyed most of Granite’s commercial district. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
The Commercial Hotel is believed first to have operated as a stage stop during the 1860s and 1870s on a stage road between Cañon City and Leadville traveled by the noted Barlow & Sanderson line. The oldest part of the building dates to ca. 1867-76. By about 1880-81 it evolved into the Commercial Hotel and played a vital role in the town’s commerce by providing lodging and meals for commercial travelers and tourists, a function essential for a thriving community. By offering overnight accommodations and hot food, the early hotels made trips to such isolated areas less difficult, allowing them to attract more potential residents as well as important business visitors. The building continued to function as a hotel through at least 1911. The hotel and the pre-1880 livery stable/blacksmith shop to the north are further significant as intact examples of Pioneer Log construction. Although Granite boomed in the early 1860s and for several years was the county seat of Lake County, there are only a small number of early log buildings remaining in the community. The hotel building is notable for displaying walls facing Main Street clad with board-and-batten siding, reflecting an attempt to transcend the rugged frontier environment, while less visible walls are mostly log construction with V and square notching. The Commercial Hotel and its companion livery stable are further significant as rare surviving examples of the town’s early commercial buildings. Fires in 1893, 1897, and 1939 destroyed most of Granite’s commercial district. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
Salida Livestock Commission Company, Salida vicinity (2014-15)
The 1958 Salida Livestock Commission Company sale barn facility is significant for the role it played (and continues to play) in ranching and the marketing of livestock in central and southern Colorado. This facility served as one of the largest livestock sale barns in Colorado during the 1960s, with as many as 3,000 to 4,000 animals sold during a single sale. Today, the sale barn attracts buyers and sellers from Chaffee County, South Park, the San Luis Valley, and the Cañon City area, hosting weekly auctions in the fall and winter that drew large numbers of buyers and sellers to Salida and boosted the local economy. The sale barn complex is further significant as an intact example of a late 1950s livestock auction complex. The facility is organized to efficiently receive, care for, auction, and ship livestock, featuring loading and unloading docks; a large corral with alleys, loafing sheds, squeeze chutes, and pens of varying sizes to hold and move livestock; sales barn with scales, sales arena, office, and café; hay barn; and parking area. Especially important is the sales barn, which includes important original interior features such as the sales area with wood-paneled walls, a semi-circular show ring, steeply raked seating, and an auctioneer’s booth, and the original restaurant with knotty pine paneling on the walls and a 1950s semi-circular lunch counter with metal stools. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
The 1958 Salida Livestock Commission Company sale barn facility is significant for the role it played (and continues to play) in ranching and the marketing of livestock in central and southern Colorado. This facility served as one of the largest livestock sale barns in Colorado during the 1960s, with as many as 3,000 to 4,000 animals sold during a single sale. Today, the sale barn attracts buyers and sellers from Chaffee County, South Park, the San Luis Valley, and the Cañon City area, hosting weekly auctions in the fall and winter that drew large numbers of buyers and sellers to Salida and boosted the local economy. The sale barn complex is further significant as an intact example of a late 1950s livestock auction complex. The facility is organized to efficiently receive, care for, auction, and ship livestock, featuring loading and unloading docks; a large corral with alleys, loafing sheds, squeeze chutes, and pens of varying sizes to hold and move livestock; sales barn with scales, sales arena, office, and café; hay barn; and parking area. Especially important is the sales barn, which includes important original interior features such as the sales area with wood-paneled walls, a semi-circular show ring, steeply raked seating, and an auctioneer’s booth, and the original restaurant with knotty pine paneling on the walls and a 1950s semi-circular lunch counter with metal stools. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
Rock Ledge/Franzel Ranch, Buena Vista vicinity, Chaffee County, Colorado (2014-15)
The 120-acre Rock Ledge Ranch/Franzel Ranch west of Buena Vista possesses an important association with the history of agriculture in Chaffee County. Ernest and Belle Wilber homesteaded the property beginning in the late 1880s, constructing the first buildings and other improvements, raising field crops, vegetables, cattle, and eventually establishing a flourishing dairy. German immigrants Gustav and Marie Franzel acquired the ranch in 1908, completing other buildings, raising a family, and growing grains, vegetables, hay, and cattle on the land. The Franzels raised hogs and continued a sausage making tradition, producing such German favorites as liverwurst, blood sausage, and summer sausage. Descendants of the Franzels continue to own and operate the ranch. The ranch contains a variety of buildings representing late nineteenth and twentieth century ranch architecture, including a large log barn, machine shed, chicken house, brooder house, bunkhouse, blacksmith shop, ice house, and wood shed, as well as a historic cistern and a ditch. All designed in an unadorned, traditional, and functional vernacular manner, the buildings exhibit a variety of historic ranch construction materials, including logs, milled boards, wood shingles, corrugated metal, concrete, stone, and cinderblocks. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
The 120-acre Rock Ledge Ranch/Franzel Ranch west of Buena Vista possesses an important association with the history of agriculture in Chaffee County. Ernest and Belle Wilber homesteaded the property beginning in the late 1880s, constructing the first buildings and other improvements, raising field crops, vegetables, cattle, and eventually establishing a flourishing dairy. German immigrants Gustav and Marie Franzel acquired the ranch in 1908, completing other buildings, raising a family, and growing grains, vegetables, hay, and cattle on the land. The Franzels raised hogs and continued a sausage making tradition, producing such German favorites as liverwurst, blood sausage, and summer sausage. Descendants of the Franzels continue to own and operate the ranch. The ranch contains a variety of buildings representing late nineteenth and twentieth century ranch architecture, including a large log barn, machine shed, chicken house, brooder house, bunkhouse, blacksmith shop, ice house, and wood shed, as well as a historic cistern and a ditch. All designed in an unadorned, traditional, and functional vernacular manner, the buildings exhibit a variety of historic ranch construction materials, including logs, milled boards, wood shingles, corrugated metal, concrete, stone, and cinderblocks. Prepared for the Greater Arkansas Nature Association with funding from the Colorado State Historical Fund.
Tarryall Rural Historic Landscape District, Phase II, Park County, Colorado. Front Range finalized a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Tarryall Rural Historic Landscape District along County Road 77 between Jefferson and Lake George. The area contains many ranch complexes featuring pioneer log construction. The nomination was undertaken for Park County with funding from a State Historical Fund grant.
Downtown Saguache Historic District, Saguache County, Colorado (2013-14). The 7.7-acre, 49-resource Saguache Downtown Historic District is locally significant under National Register Criterion A in the area of Commerce for its historic role as the commercial center of the Town of Saguache and the upper San Luis Valley since its founding in 1874. The district is further locally significant under National Register Criterion C in the area of Architecture, representing an intact collection of one- and two-story late nineteenth- and early twentieth century commercial buildings, including an impressive number of buildings featuring false front and adobe construction. The period of significance extends from 1874 through 1964, in keeping with National Register guidelines. A Certified Local Government grant to the Town of Saguache funded the project.
Hotel Holly/Haswell Hotel, Haswell, Colorado (2013)
The 1907 Hotel Holly/Haswell Hotel was the earliest public accommodation in Haswell, serving the area’s residents, including teachers and work crews, as well as members of the traveling public. As one of the largest buildings in the community and with a popular dining room, the hotel became a gathering place for local social gatherings and other events. In addition to the hotel, the 0.4-acre complex includes an office/filling station, bunkhouse, chicken coop, and garage. Front Range undertook the project for the Kiowa County Historic Preservation Commission under funding from a Certified Local Government grant.
The 1907 Hotel Holly/Haswell Hotel was the earliest public accommodation in Haswell, serving the area’s residents, including teachers and work crews, as well as members of the traveling public. As one of the largest buildings in the community and with a popular dining room, the hotel became a gathering place for local social gatherings and other events. In addition to the hotel, the 0.4-acre complex includes an office/filling station, bunkhouse, chicken coop, and garage. Front Range undertook the project for the Kiowa County Historic Preservation Commission under funding from a Certified Local Government grant.
Snow Train Rolling Stock, Laramie, Wyoming, National Register District Nomination (2012-13). Front Range prepared a National Register district nomination for the Snow Train, Rolling Stock located in Railroad Heritage Park, Laramie, Wyoming. The resources comprised the first railroad rolling stock to be listed within Wyoming. The train consists of a wedge snow plow, steam locomotive, tender, bunk car, and caboose. The project was conducted for the Albany County Historic Preservation Board and the Laramie Railroad Depot Association and funded by a Certified Local Government grant.
|
Tarryall Rural Historic Landscape District Nomination, Park County, Colorado (2011-12). Front Range produced a draft National Register RHLD nomination for Park County centered on the Tarryall Road corridor between Jefferson and Lake George. The 41-mile, 29,450-acre nominated area parallels Tarryall Creek and contains numerous ranching resources, including many examples of pioneer log construction. The project was funded by a Certified Local Government grant from History Colorado.
|
|
Horseshoe Canyon National Register of Historic Places Nomination, Canyonlands National Park, Utah (2011)
Front Range worked with RMC Consultants to produce an expanded and updated National Register district nomination for an area of Canyonlands National Park containing some of the most significant rock art in North America, including the Great Gallery. |
|
Cabin Springs and Neck Springs Grazing District, National Register Historic District Nomination, Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah vicinity (2009-10)
Front Range prepared a National Register historic district nomination for an area in the northern area of the park that contains resources related to grazing and water development in the 1930s, including two livestock troughs erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Front Range performed the work for the National Park Service as a subconsultant to RMC Consultants. |
|
Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Fairplay vicinity, Colorado (2007)
The district nomination included more than two dozen buildings and 2,100 acres in the Trout Creek valley southeast of Fairplay. The ranch, which produced large amounts of hay, was associated with several prominent cattle and sheep ranchers, including Edward P. Arthur, Charles H. Wadley, and James L. Settele. |
|
Monument Valley Park, Colorado Springs, Colorado (2006)
This narrow 147-acre urban park was established by William Jackson Palmer in 1907 and further developed by WPA public works projects in the 1930s. A number of Rustic style features are present in the park. |
|
Hutchinson Ranch (Boundary Expansion and Update), Salida, Colorado (2004-2005)
A revised and expanded nomination, including new documentation, for a historic cattle ranch in Chaffee County established by Joseph S. and Annabel Hutchinson in the 1870s. |
|
Trujillo Homestead, Alamosa County, Colorado (2004)
The historic homestead of a first-generation Hispanic-American cattle rancher Pedro Trujillo. The site is also associated with the violent disputes between Anglo cattlemen and Hispanic sheepraisers during the early twentieth century. |
|
Medano Ranch Headquarters, Alamosa County, Colorado (2004)
The headquarters area of a pioneer San Luis Valley cattle ranching empire. |
|
Crested Butte, Colorado, Revised Nomination (2001-2002)
Revised boundaries, an expanded historic context, architectural descriptions, and new photographs and maps for more than 300 buildings in the historic mining town of Crested Butte, Colorado. |
|
Colorado Salt Works, Hartsel vicinity, Park County, Colorado (2000-2001)
One of the state's earliest industries and the only salt production facility of its kind built in Colorado. This rare resource type is an 1860s plant that used kettle and pan technology to produce salt for the fledging mining frontier. |
|
Salt Works Ranch, Hartsel vicinity, Colorado (2000-2001)
The headquarters area of an agricultural enterprise encompassing 128 acres, including an original 1862 homestead cabin and a Second Empire style main house, as well as a variety of agricultural buildings. |
|
Wahl Ranch, Jefferson vicinity, Park County, Colorado (2000)
A large historic ranch complex at the base of Kenosha Pass, with buildings dating from 1883 through 1948. |
|
Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (1999-2000)
Prepared for the National Park Service through the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this district embraces the historic concessions area of the national park. |
|
Putnam/Buckley Ranch, Park County, Colorado (1999)
An early cattle and sheep ranch located east of Hartsel, Colorado. |
|
Stocke-Walter Historic District, Arvada, Colorado (1999)
A historic residential neighborhood lying east of Arvada’s historic commercial area. |
|
Reno Park Historic District, Arvada, Colorado (1999)
A historic residential neighborhood lying west of Arvada’s historic commercial area. |
|
West Side Neighborhood Residential District Expansion. Denver, Colorado(1999)
A National Register nomination substantially expanding the existing West Side NRHP Historic District in the La Alma-Lincoln Park neighborhood was produced for NEWSED, a nonprofit community development organization. Due to neighborhood opposition, this nomination was not submitted to the State Review Board. |
|
McGraw Ranch, Estes Park, Colorado (1998) A historic cattle and dude ranch now within the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park. Prepared for the National Park Service.
|
|
Arvada Downtown, Arvada, Colorado (1998)
A district with 67 resources embracing Arvada’s historic commercial area and including commercial buildings, churches, a grange hall, a school, and a few residences. |
|
Littleton Downtown, Littleton, Colorado (1997) The two-and-a-half block commercial heart of historic Littleton, encompassing 33 buildings, including the J.J.B. Benedict-designed Town Hall.
|
|
Denver Medical Depot, Denver, Colorado (1997)
A 37-acre World War II medical supply facility in northeast Denver designed by architect Temple H. Buell. The red brick building complex later housed the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center. |
|
Tilden School for Teaching Health, Denver, Colorado (1995)
The campus of a 1915-32 multi-building sanitarium associated with Dr. John H. Tilden and principally designed by Denver architect Harry W.H. Edbrooke. |
|
Granada Relocation Center (Camp Amache), Prowers County, Colorado(1993-94)
The site of a World War II era Japanese American relocation center in Prowers County of southeastern Colorado. The project also included videotaping interviews with former residents of the camp and producing cost estimates for improving access and interpretation of the site. The project was sponsored by the Denver Central Optimist Club and the Town of Granada. The nomination was later used to prepare a National Historic Landmark nomination for the site. |
|
Camp George West, Golden, Colorado (1992) A Colorado National Guard headquarters facility that features a variety of stone buildings.
|
|
Milne Farm, Weld County, Colorado (1992) A Centennial Farm just west of Lucerne, Colorado, including the main farmhouse, barn, and associated agricultural buildings.
|
|
SLW Ranch, Weld County, Colorado (1991) A historic horse and cattle ranch established by a Scottish capitalist in the early 1880s. Resources include the main ranch house, a large barn, and a variety of outbuildings.
|
|
Elmer and Etta Ball Ranch, Weld County, Colorado (1991). A family ranch established in 1914 where the Balls raised cattle and pinto beans. The headquarters area includes the main ranch house, a barn, and other outbuildings.
|
|
Rim Rock Drive, Mesa County, Colorado (1990-92)
A 22.4 mile roadway constructed within Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado. The road was a Great Depression-era public works project completed with CCC and WPA labor. The National Park Service engaged Front Range to develop a historic context, perform a field survey with photographic documentation, develop registration requirements, and prepare the nomination. |
|
Redstone Historic District, Pitkin County, Colorado (1989)
A Colorado Fuel & Iron Company town associated with John C. Osgood and coal mining in Pitkin County. Architect Theodore C. Boal of New York designed many of the district’s buildings. The district includes Osgood's "Cleveholm" (at left). |
|
Redstone Coke Oven Historic District, Pitkin County, Colorado (1990)
A complex of Colorado Fuel & Iron Company beehive coke ovens associated with Redstone, Colorado. |
|
Black Hawk and Central City, Gilpin County, Colorado (1989)
Front Range assisted the National Park Service in correcting and revising maps prepared for a National Register nomination of the Central City/Black Hawk historic district. |
|
MacGregor Ranch, Estes Park, Colorado (1989) A historic cattle and dude ranch in Rocky Mountain National Park.
|
|
Swallow Hill National Register Nomination, Denver, Colorado (1987)
One of Denver’s most significant collections of late nineteenth and early twentieth century residential buildings. Located in northeast Denver. |
