A Lesser-Known Mill and Some of its Successors

I've occasionally written about the Golden Paper Mill, the Rock Flour Mill, the Golden Mill, and the mill races that powered them. There was one more mill and one more mill race. The Fitzpatrick Mill, unlike the other three mills, was located on the south side of Clear Creek.

*Excerpt from the 1878 Willits Map of Golden, redrawn by Dan Abbott. This map shows the mill race that ran along the south side of Clear Creek, to the Fitzpatrick Mill, at 11th and Washington. –* *click to enlarge*

The May 8, 1867 Colorado Transcript included an ad for Star Flouring Mills, operated by Lomax, Palmer, & Co. That mill was located on the south side of Clear Creek, where the Golden Hotel is now. Three months later, the mill burned to the ground. Within a month, John B. Fitzpatrick partnered with one of the previous owners to rebuild the business, this time calling it Brick Mills.

The power generated by a mill could be used in many ways. The Golden Mill’s mill race also powered a quartz crusher, and the Rock Flour Mill's race was also used for “planing” (shaping lumber into doors and siding). Fitzpatrick’s mill was also used for both “flouring” and “planing.”

The southern mill race may not have produced enough power to run the mill consistently. In 1874, Fitzpatrick added engines (presumably coal-powered) to run his machinery when the creek was low or frozen. This would have significantly increased the cost of operation. Within a few years, the Fitzpatrick Flour/Planing Mill closed.

*Colorado Transcript – February 12, 1879*

In 1879, the abandoned building was leased by a Mr. J.E. Valentine, who planned to turn it into a mattress factory. The Transcript was enthused about this venture, as Valentine planned to stuff the mattresses with waste products from the Golden Paper Mill and the Barber Planing Mill–shredded rags and wood shavings. The mattress factory also failed.

*Excerpts from the 1886 and 1890 maps of Golden, Colorado* – click to enlarge

The 1886 Sanborn Map shows the mill as “Closed.” By 1890, it had been converted into a brewery. Happily, that means we have a picture of the old mill buildings (after they were converted into a brewery). The brewery, too, was fairly short-lived. The 1906 Sanborn Map says “BREWERY (OLD DILAPIDATED AND VACANT).”

*Eagle Brewing Company at 11th and Washington, in the former Fitzpatrick Mill – Golden Weekly Globe, May 1, 1893 –* *click to enlarge*

Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and many thanks to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!