The October 5, 1967 Colorado Transcript announced that 13 acres of land had been acquired from the Lookout Mountain School for Boys for an expansion of the high school. The newly-acquired land would be used to add vocational labs and classrooms and baseball, football, and soccer fields.
Before World War II, the Lookout Mountain School (now the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center) included many acres of farmland. The boys at the school were being taught agricultural skills.
After the War, Denver’s population exploded, and the surrounding towns were also growing hugely.
Growth in Cities Surrounding Denver, 1950-1960
Westminster – 717.6%
Arvada – 713.7%
Aurora – 323.2%
Littleton – 302.5%
Englewood – 97%
Golden – 35.6%
Source: Colorado Transcript – February 2, 1961
Golden’s leaders were frantic to join the growth trend, but the city was surrounded by mountains on the east and west sides and the Lookout Mountain School on the south. They began referring to the School as a “plug” and pressuring the state to end the farming program and make the land available for housing developments.
In 1963, the State agreed to sell several hundred acres of the School’s farm land. Over the next several years, parcels were sold for a gas station, unspecified commercial purposes, Public Service, a clay mining company, and Jefferson County School District. The School of Mines survey fields west of 6th Avenue are former Lookout Mountain land. Summit View apartments, Ulysses Park, Bell Middle School and the Connections Learning Center occupy former Lookout Mountain School farmland, as does most of Golden’s golf course.
Many thanks to an anonymous donor for sponsoring Golden History Moments for the month of October.
