Lengthening Days and the Holland House Mural

February 21, 2021
Dawn on Washington Avenue, February 2021

Golden Eye Candy – Frank Hanou – The holiday lights are off, but dawn is coming earlier! – click to enlarge

As of today, we are two months away from the winter solstice. The sun will rise at 6:44AM and set at 5:43PM, giving us a total of 10 hours, 59 minutes of daylight.

On December 31st, the sun rose at 7:15AM and set at 4:38PM, for a total of 9 hours, 21 minutes of daylight.


COVID Updates

The county updates COVID and vaccine stats Monday through Friday, so the next update will appear here on Tuesday.

Appointments to Get the COVID Vaccine (Eligibility)
State of Colorado’s Find Out Where You Can Get Vaccinated page
Safeway | King Soopers | Lutheran Medical Center | JCPH Clinic in Arvada (70+ only)

State Hotline to answer questions, including location of vaccine providers: 1-877-268-2926. It is staffed 24 hours a day.

Golden Testing Sites
Mines COVID Testing | Jeffco Fairgrounds COVID Testing

More Public Health References
School of Mines COVID-19 case page. | Sign up for exposure notifications | CDC | Colorado | Jefferson County | City of Golden


Virtual Events

Online Worship:
Calvary Episcopal Church | Faith Lutheran Church | First United Methodist Church | First Presbyterian Church | Flatirons Community Church | Golden Church of Christ | Golden Presbyterian Church | Hillside Community Church | Jefferson Unitarian Church | Rockland Community Church | St. Joseph Catholic Church

2-5PM SAT Prep Workshop – Reading

FINAL DAY: Colorado Environmental Film Festival

Backcountry Film Festival Runs Feb 15-March 1


Real World Golden

10AM Wild West Walking Tour

11AM-2PM Brunch at the RoseSPONSORED


Golden History Moment

postcard showing the Shelton mural hanging in the Holland House dining room

Promotional postcard for the Holland House, featuring the Hal Shelton mural – click to enlarge

64 Years Ago
The February 21, 1957 Colorado Transcript announced an expansion at the Holland House. The owners planned a new dining room which they would call the Pioneer Room. The outstanding feature of the room would be a mural depicting the early history of Golden.


Top-left is the Hotel Berrimoor, Top-center and -right is the LaRay
Middle Row is all Holland House – all top and middle row photos from the Golden History Museum collection
Bottom row is Table Mountain Inn – all photos are theirs
Click to enlarge

The Holland House was built in the 1920s and had gone through a series of owners and names (Hotel Berrimoor, Cody Hotel, Wright Hotel, Golden Hotel, LaRay Hotel) before Lu and Ethel Holland purchased it in 1948. In their hands, the hotel, restaurant, and coffee shop remained a going concern until 1987. It re-opened in 1991 as the Table Mountain Inn.

The mural mentioned in the article was painted by Golden artist Hal Shelton. Shelton was a long-time advocate for Golden’s schools, and Shelton Elementary was named in his honor.

Hal Shelton mural of early Golden, hanging in the Golden Community Center, photographed by Dave Powers in 2016

Hal Shelton mural, now hanging in the Golden Community Center, photographed in segments by Dave Powers in 2016 – click to enlarge

The mural now belongs to the Golden Civic Foundation. It was displayed in Foss Drug for several years and is now hanging on the second floor of the Golden Community Center.


Many thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!