Capacity Issues – a Road and a Courthouse

*Golden Eye Candy – Fall Walk Along the Creek in 2007 – 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:

Clear Creek is closed. In Jefferson County) (including Golden), masks must be worn both indoors and outdoors in public spaces where 6 feet distance cannot be maintained. The rest of the state requires masks only indoors. The Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors protocol is in effect statewide. City and County fire restrictions are in place.

Virtual Golden

*MTAB will discuss 4th Avenue near Golden Heights Park – photo from Google Maps – enlarge*

10AM-12PM QPR Suicide Prevention Training Webinar
10:15-11:15AM Baby & Toddler Time with the Library
6PM Mobility and Transportation Advisory Board
MTAB will discuss traffic calming projects and increasing the capacity of 4th Avenue. This road is the sole way to access the proposed Overlook development. It is narrow and the adjacent Golden Heights Park has back-out parking into the roadway.

Real Life Golden

7:30-8:30AM Golden Chamber’s Coffee Connections
4:45PM Hatha Flow in Parfet Park with Pranatonic

Golden History Moment

*The 1878 Jefferson County Courthouse – Click to enlarge*

Jefferson County built its first courthouse in 1878. It was located on Washington Avenue, between 15th and 16th Streets. As that was one of the highest points in town, the courthouse was a focal point for the community.

According to Richard Gardner of the Golden Landmarks Association, “In its original layout it featured courtrooms on its main floor, County offices in the upper floor while the basement served as the county jail. During the late 1870s this building survived an earthquake that caused its walls to sway and completely terrified the locked-up prisoners below. Inside this building had elaborate courtrooms trimmed in oak with spindled column railings.”

By the early 1950s, the County needed a new courthouse. The population of the Jefferson County was growing rapidly, and they needed increased capacity for records, courtrooms, and county offices. They also wanted more parking space. The new courthouse opened on the west side of Washington Avenue in 1953. For a few years, the 1878 building housed the Jefferson County Museum (later the Golden Pioneer Museum, and now the Golden History Museum).

*Demolition of the 1878 courthouse. Golden History Museum collection*

The old courthouse was demolished in 1963. As the June 20, 1963 Transcript commented, “Completed in Feb. 27, 1878, the two-story brick and stone building served over 75 years as Jefferson County Courthouse until the new $900,000 structure was occupied in 1953. Nostalgia aside, the courthouse and adjacent jail are yielding to modern practicality.”