Public Health References
CDC * Colorado * Jefferson County * City of Golden
Coronavirus report from Jeffco Public Health’s Case Summary Page, as of 3PM Wednesday:
Cases in Jeffco
Wednesday: 2917 | Thursday: 2965
Deaths in Jeffco
Wednesday: 214 | Thursday: 215
Ever Hospitalized in Jeffco
Wednesday: 433 | Thursday: 435 (currently 8)
Recovered
Wednesday: 2509 | Thursday: 2540
Known Cases in Golden
Wednesday: 122 | Thursday: 122
The Safer at Home and in the Vast, Great Outdoors protocol is in effect. City and County fire restrictions are in place. The City is requiring masks on public property unless you’re six feet apart and the Creek is fenced off. See the City’s website for more details….
City Council passed the emergency mask ordinance last night. Councilor Hasemen expressed reservations, but approved the ordinance after adding an amendment saying that they would reassess conditions once a month to determine whether the ordinance is still needed. For the details of the new rules, check the City’s home page. If you don’t see it there, check last night’s meeting packet on the agenda page.
Virtual Golden
6:30-7:25AM Virtual HIIT
9-10AM Virtual Power Training
Real Life Golden
1-2PM The Friday Tour and Train Rides at the Railroad Museum
6PM Brian Hornbuckle Band at Dirty Dogs Roadhouse
6PM Falling Rock at Wrigley’s
Feeling Agricultural?
There are a couple of volunteer opportunities that might interest you this weekend.
Saturday:
A small group will meet in the backyard of the Astor House to do some landscape cleanup. They plan to meet at 8AM, to beat the heat, but show up later if you’re not a morning person. Please bring your own water, mask, and gloves and a few yard tools for what you are willing to do- such as loppers, pruning shears, string trimmer, etc. They will have yard waste bags. Any and all are welcome to join them.
Sunday:
The Horse Protection League has finished their first cutting of hay and they could use help moving it to the hayloft in the historic barn. Requires lifting and/or stacking roughly 50lb-60lb bales.
Teams, clubs, scout troops, etc. are welcome. Gloves and masks required. Please call ahead so they know roughly how many volunteers to expect: 303-216-0141. It’s 8-12ish on Sunday. The Horse Protection League is about 3 miles north of Golden (map). Enjoy a morning on a beautiful ranch and help provide for the horses!
Golden History Moment
In the 19th Century, most Americans lived on farms or ranches. Farmers were a significant part of the customer base for Golden’s merchants. The children of nearby farms and ranches attended Golden schools, and rural families were very much a part of the Golden community.
One of the most successful and influential ranchers in the Golden area was John Churches. (Not “Church–” “Churches.”) He and his large family owned several tracts of land just north of North Table Mountain.
John Churches came to this area in 1859 in search of gold, but stayed to become a rancher. He and his wife Mary Ann claimed a homestead in 1862. Part of the “proving” process required them to build a house and grow crops on the land. The Churches were high achievers and built not only a 20×40′ stone house, but a stone barn with corral, a log barn with corral, cultivated 40 acres, and dug two wells, all within the first two years. They obtained their patent for the land by December of 1863.
Before long, Churches had also dug a long ditch from Ralston Creek and built a reservoir to water his crops and livestock. This early work gave him the #1 water rights on Ralston Creek. The ranch prospered and over time grew to more than 400 acres. They raised cattle and horses. For a time, John Churches ran a meat market in Golden, selling beef raised on his own ranch. He later helped organize a Market Day, where area farmers and ranchers would be their produce and livestock to Golden all on the same day.
The Churches had eight children, though only 5 survived to adulthood. Mary Ann Churches died in 1889 and John Churches followed in 1910. Both are buried in the Golden Cemetery.
Their daughter Georgiana and her husband operated the ranch after John’s death. After her husband’s death in 1918, Georgiana sold the ranch and moved to Golden. The ranch came with valuable water rights, and in 1937, it was purchased by Denver Water. They continued to lease the land for agricultural purposes.
Jeffco Open Space acquired the ranch (sans water rights) in 1989. In 2002, they completed a master plan for Long Lake Park. The Plan included maintaining the ranch, which was on the National Register of Historic Places. Open Spaces deeded the parkland and ranch to the City of Arvada. Arvada received historic preservation grants and preserved first the stone house, then the stone barn. The walls of each are more than 18 inches thick. The hayloft and supports in the barn are hand-hewn planks bound by pegs.
Arvada wanted the ranch to be used for some form of agriculture, and at that time and the Horse Protection League was looking for a home, so they settled on the historic Churches Ranch and have leased it ever since.
