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Budget, South Neighborhoods, Eating Pizza for Bell, and a Wonderful Old Map

Removing the Cottonwood Behind the History Museum – Chris Davell – click to enlarge

Public Health References
CDC * Colorado * Jefferson County * City of Golden

JCPHD updates these numbers Monday through Friday at about 3 PM. Here’s the most recent Coronavirus report from Jeffco Public Health’s Case Summary Page:

Cases in Jeffco – Mon: 7357 | Tues: 7477 (+120)
Deaths in Jeffco – Mon: 299 | Tues: 301 (+2)
Ever Hospitalized in Jeffco – Mon: 634 | Tues: 638 (currently 39) (+4)
Recovered – Mon: 6052 | Tues: 6131 (+79)
Known Cases in Golden – Mon: 252 | Tues: 259 (+7)

School of Mines COVID-19 case page. | Masks are required. | City and County fire restrictions are in place. | Clear Creek is now open.


Virtual Golden

7:30AM Citizen Budget Advisory Committee Meeting
CBAC will review the September Sales and Use tax results, 3rd quarter financial reports, and the 2021 Operating Budget. The Deputy City Manager will lead a discuss of the Heart of Golden project.

8:30-9:30AM Virtual Power Training
10-11:30AM Everything Dinosaur Talk – Thyreophora (Stegosaurs)
10:15AM Let’s Dance with the Library
6PM Wednesday Watch Party – The House on Haunted Hill – starring Vincent Price

6:30PM Planning Commission – Study Session
The Planning Commission will discuss the South Golden Neighborhoods Plan and will review the survey responses they have received so far.


Real World Golden

9AM Golden Walks
3:30-4:30PM Vaccine, License & Microship Clinic @ Foothills Animal Shelter
4PM Bell Middle School’s “Night Out” – Fundraiser with Basic Kneads Pizza


Golden History Moment

1878 Willits Map of Golden Colorado – Redrawn by Dan Abbott – Click to enlarge

One of my favorite research tools is the 1878 Willits Map of Golden. It provides incredible detail about exactly what was here in that year. Check out this piece of downtown:

Washington Avenue to Ford, 11th to 13th, from the 1878 Willits Map of Golden, redrawn by Dan Abbott – click to enlarge

I knew that Dan Abbott (author of Colorado Central Railroad) had redrawn it from the original, but I had not known what inspired him to do that–so I asked! Here’s Dan’s story:

Back in the mid-1980s, both Francis Rizzari and Dick Ronzio were at the age of not driving at night anymore, so they appointed me to chauffeur them to the monthly Denver Westerners meeting.

In the course of these monthly outings Dick mentioned that he had an old Golden map he would like to have redrawn, and as he knew that I had done some of this kind of work previously, he commissioned me to redraw this particular historic item relating to Golden’s history.

I went to his house one day soon after this, and took charge of this original map to be redrawn. It was an original linen map in colored ink, which had been glued to a 24” x 36” piece of plywood with a Plexiglas sheet covering the front. The original linen had been folded in half and was a bear to decipher any detail around this fold.

It took approximately 120 hours to redraw this at its original size. When completed around the first of April in 1987, Dick took my original drawing and had it reduced to 18” x 22” and gave me a copy, which I in turn had about 100 copies made and sold these for a number of years thereafter.

Dan Abbott

Highlights