Many More Cases and Several More Deaths, Optically Stimulated Luminescence, and Pulling Down the Overland Hotel

*Golden Eye Candy – Chris Davell – Early Snow – click to enlarge*

Coronavirus/COVID-19

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 – Fri: 11,143 | Mon: 12,107 (+964)
Deaths in Jeffco – Fri: 346 | Mon: 354 (+8)
Ever Hospitalized in Jeffco – Fri: 834 | Mon: 846 (currently 123) (+12)
Recovered – Fri: 8,275 | Mon: 8,615 (+340)
Known Cases in Golden – Fri: 358 | Mon: 403 (+45)

School of Mines COVID-19 case page. | Masks are required. | City and County fire restrictions are in place. | Sign up for exposure notifications.

Virtual Golden

10:15AM Toddler Time with the Library
5:30PM Golden High School Virtual PTA Meeting
6:30PM Mines Museum Lecture Series
Our speaker will be Shannon Mahan, Research Geologist USGS. Shannon will be telling us about using optically stimulated luminescence to date sediment in a natural cave trap, Wyoming. This Wyoming cave is internationally know and contains world-class paleontological finds. Meeting Code: #Cave0Wonders

6:30PM Economic Development Commission Meeting
EDComm will discuss their 2021 work plan.

Golden History Moment

*Demolition of the Overland Hotel in 1910 – Golden History Museum Collection – click to enlarge*

110 Years Ago
The November 10, 1910 Colorado Transcript announced the upcoming demolition of the Overland Hotel building. This was one of Golden’s oldest buildings at the time, having been built in 1859–the very first year of Golden’s existence.

*Fisher & Cass Wholesale Grocers–excerpt from a photo from the Golden History Museum collection – click to enlarge*

It began as a wholesale grocery. When first built, it had a false front (to make it look bigger, by hiding the peaked roof behind the front) and a porch with wooden sidewalk. The second floor was used as a “popular public hall for dancing, public meetings, entertainments and festivities of all sorts” (Colorado Transcript, January 14, 1907).

*Advertisement from the November 27, 1867 Colorado Transcript*

*The Overland Hotel, shown in a photo from the Denver Public Library Western History Collection – click to enlarge*

In 1867, the building was converted into a hotel–first called the Overland House, and later the Overland Hotel.

*Berthoud’s building (the former Overland Hotel) in the background – Golden History Museum collection – click to enlarge*

In the late 1880s, Edward Berthoud, a civil engineer and Civil War veteran, bought the building. He used the second floor as his office and residence, and rented out storefronts on the first floor. His tenants included a barber, a tailor, a millinery shop, and a Chinese laundry.

In 1908, Captain Berthoud–then age 81–fell down the stairs while holding a lighted lantern. The building caught fire and Berthoud was seriously injured. The fire was extinguished, but Berthoud died several months later from the injuries he had sustained.

The next year–1909–the building and the ground it occupied were offered for sale. A fraternal organization called Woodmen of the World purchased the building for $1650 cash. They intended to remove the 1859 structure and build a new one on the site.

The November 10, 1910 Transcript article invited volunteers to come downtown on Sunday afternoon to help pull down the old building.

*Photo taken in 1913, showing the still-empty lot that had held the Overland Hotel – Golden History Museum Collection – click to enlarge*

For reasons I haven’t discovered, the Woodmen never built their planned lodge building. The lot stood empty until 1922, when Grant Churches built a garage and auto showroom on the site. That building went on to serve as the Golden Plunge swimming pool, a labor hall, a roller skating rink, Eaker’s Department Store, and the Buffalo Rose Events Center.