Jefferson County Historical Timeline

January 2, 1860

The first county election held under the provisional Jefferson Territory. Golden City is selected as the county seat; a sheriff, clerk and recorder, and county judge are elected. One thousand people from six different communities vote for their county officials.

January 9, 1860

The first school in Jefferson County opens—the Golden City school—in a rented cabin at present-day 1304 Washington Avenue.

January 14, 1860

The Golden Gate City plat is recorded.

January 16, 1860

Golden City Masonic Lodge, one of the first Masonic organizations in Colorado, is established.

April 6, 1860

The first post office is established in Golden City, with Dr. Isaac E Hardy serving as postmaster.

August 26, 1860

The all-time hottest temperature recorded in Jefferson County—104 degrees— is recorded in Golden City.

September 1, 1860

The People's Court is organized to address criminal matters in the district.

October 6, 1860

Charles L. Palmer is born, reputedly the first child of gold rush settlers to be born in Jefferson County. He later serves as County Commissioner from 1902 to 1909.

October 15, 1860

The first major forest fire in Jefferson County burns for two months, charring Bear Creek, Turkey Creek and Mount Vernon canyons, and the whole of Green Mountain

October 28, 1860

Charles Simpson receives 21 lashes on his bare back from Sheriff Pollard for stealing four cans of peaches, a jar of pickles and other commodities.

November 22, 1860

Golden City becomes the capital of Jefferson Territory.

1861

Three mining districts form and operate in central Jefferson County to administer extralegal law: Bergen (Bergen Park), Junction (Conifer), and Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon Canyon) districts. They are later combined under the leadership of Thomas Bergen to form the short-lived Ni-Wot County.

February 28, 1861

Congress combines pieces of Nebraska, Kansas, Utah, and New Mexico to create the Territory of Colorado. William Gilpin is appointed governor.

November 1, 1861

Jefferson County is reorganized as one of the original 17 counties created by the Colorado Territorial Legislature.

November 16, 1861

The original Jefferson County Commissioners—John M. Ferrell, Spafford C. Field and George H. Richardson (appointed by Governor William Gilpin)—meet to organize the upcoming county election. The original five districts of Jefferson County are created.

November 19, 1861

A major windstorm damages 25 buildings in Golden City.

December 7, 1861

County officers are elected, including the first elected Board of County Commissioners.

1862

• The White Ash coal seam is first identified by Edward L. Berthoud and J.M. Johnson within vertical Laramie Formation outcrops on the west side of today's Colorado School of Mines campus.
• Bergen School, the second school in Jefferson County and the first purpose-built educational structure, is established in Bergen Park.

January 6, 1862

Newly elected County officials assume office

April 1862

Jefferson County Commissioners reorganize the county internally from five districts to the current three.

June 20, 1862

The first county and school taxes are levied by the Jefferson County Commissioners.

June 21, 1862

The first jail in Jefferson County is built by Walter Pollard.

August 14, 1862

Golden City becomes the capital of the Territory of Colorado, remaining so until 1867.

1863

• Henry Stevens, the first recorded homesteader in Jefferson County under the 1863 Homestead Act, builds his cabin at the present-day site of 44th and Teller streets in Wheat Ridge.
• Arvada Cemetery is established.

June 1, 1863

A locust plague hits the area, devastating everything in its wake.

1863-1864

Rooney Ranch is established.

1864

April 18, 1864

David Barnes establishes the first flour mill in Jefferson County on Bear Creek.

May 14, 1864

The first devastating flood in Jefferson County begins in Deer, Bear, Coal, and Mount Vernon Creeks, drowning thousands of sheep and 19 people in the South Platte. The flood wipes out all bridges on Clear Creek, compelling citizens to use ferries.

1865

• Colorado's first railway company, the Colorado Central Railroad Company, is incorporated by William A.H. Loveland in Golden City.
• The Rooney Ranch main house is completed.

February 9, 1865

The Colorado and Clear Creek Railroad Company is established.

August 5, 1865

The First Baptist Church chapel, the first church building in Golden, is dedicated at the southwest corner of present-day 12th and Jackson Streets.

1866

• Jefferson County has a population of 1,782; Gilpin County has four times that number.
• The Loveland Building, one of the first brick buildings in Golden, is completed.
• Clay mining begins in Golden, with brickmaking at the Golden Brickworks.

December 19, 1866

George West prints the first edition of his newspaper, the Colorado Transcript (now Golden Transcript), in Golden City.

1867

• The territorial capital moves from Golden City to Denver City.
• The Astor House in Golden is built.
• The last documented encampment of the Arapaho tribe, led by Chief Friday, occurs in Jefferson County.
• Golden Paper Mills, the only paper mill west of Missouri, is established in Golden City, making paper from recycled rags and straw.

January 1, 1868

Golden City celebrates the groundbreaking for the first railroad construction in Colorado by the Colorado Central Railroad Company.

April 8, 1868

The Transcript is forced to print its newspaper on yellow wrapping paper due to a severe paper shortage.

July 23, 1868

General Ulysses S. Grant visits Golden City with fellow generals Sherman and Sheridan.

1869

May 19, 1869

Eliza West (George West's wife) debuts her weekly column "Home Department" in the Transcript under the pen name Kate Warrenton.

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1870

Bishop George M. Randall opens Jarvis Hall Collegiate School in a building just south of Golden (on the site of the current Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center). Later called the School of Mines, it becomes a territorial institution in 1874 and officially becomes the Colorado School of Mines in 1876 following statehood.

September 12, 1870

Martin Leyden and fellow miners Patrick Stanton and Patrick Kelly die when the Leyden Creek Coal Mine fills with deadly firedamp gas.

September 24, 1870

The Colorado Central Railroad line is completed. The first train arrives in Jefferson County, in Golden City, from Denver.

November 21, 1870

Construction of the Welch Ditch begins in Clear Creek Canyon.

December 1, 1870

The first town plat of Arvada is filed. Originally, the settlement is known as Ralston Point.

December 4, 1870

An earthquake strikes Golden around 5 a.m., with shaking lasting two to three seconds. No fatalities are reported.

1871

Golden’s Iler Block, the corner building at 12th Street and Washington Avenue, is built—now Jefferson County’s oldest frame storefront.

January 3, 1871

The Town of Golden City is incorporated. “City” is dropped from the town’s title on January 22, 1872.

1872

• Golden Smelting Works, Golden’s first major smelter, is established.
• The First Presbyterian Church (now the Foothills Art Center) is built.
• The Morrison Stone, Lime & Town Company is incorporated to establish a town along Bear Creek.

January 16, 1872

Organized firefighting is created in Golden, with former Sheriff Joseph Remington appointed foreman of the new “hook and ladder” company.

September 19, 1872

Matthews Hall Divinity School opens next to Jarvis Hall Collegiate School.

December 23, 1872

The narrow-gauge section of the Colorado Central Railroad—linking Denver and Golden with Central City through Clear Creek Canyon—is completed. It is the first railroad into the Colorado mountains.

1873

• The last documented encampment of the Ute Tribe, led by Chief Colorow, occurs in Jefferson County.
• The School of Mines opens under the auspices of the Episcopal Church.
• The Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum is established as the Jarvis Hall Museum by Arthur Lakes.

April 1, 1873

The first sitting U.S. president, Ulysses S. Grant, visits Golden.

September 12, 1873

The first Swedish church in Colorado, the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church, is established in Golden by Swedish immigrants.

October 1873

South School in Golden opens with 195 students. It is now Golden High School, Colorado’s oldest continuously operating high school, with 1,453 students enrolled for the 2024–2025 academic year. Jefferson County becomes the first county in Colorado to adopt a graded school system, separating students by age.

October 6, 1873

Golden Cemetery is established by the Town of Golden as a municipal cemetery. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

November 24, 1873

The Coors Brewing Company is founded in Golden by Adolph Coors Sr. and Jacob Schueler. Golden Lager, their first beer, enters the market in 1874 and is an instant success. Coors buys out his partner on May 4, 1880, becoming the sole owner of the company.

^{Adolph Coors Golden Brewery, Golden, Colo.}

1874

• The Colorado School of Mines is established as a territorial institution, becoming a state institution in 1876 when Colorado attains statehood.
• The Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad, organized by George Morrison, John Evans, David Moffat, and others, reaches Morrison. Morrison experiences a boom in commerce and industry because of the railroad’s arrival.

June 20, 1874

The first T. rex fossil—a tooth—is discovered on South Table Mountain by Jarvis Hall student Peter T. Dotson.

September 22, 1874

The grand opening of Morrison’s Evergreen Hotel—later called the Swiss Cottage—is held.

November 1874

The Town of Morrison is platted by the Morrison Stone, Lime & Town Company.

November 21, 1874

Citizens petition the county commissioners to offer a reward of $500 in county funds for the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the cold-blooded murders of James Clayton and Ransom Slate, recently killed in Weld County.

1876

• The Centennial House is built in Golden Gate Canyon.
• The Colorado School of Mines’ display at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition receives a medal for best geological and paleontological collections.
• Evergreen’s post office opens in the Post General Store on Main Street.

August 1, 1876

• Colorado becomes the 38th state, with a population of 135,000 citizens.
• The School of Mines becomes an institution of the new State of Colorado. Colorado residents attend free of charge, while nonresidents pay tuition.

1877

• George Parfet begins mining clay in a mine just south of Brooks Field, adjacent to the White Ash Coal Mine.
• Several ranching families join forces to build Evergreen’s Buffalo Park School for their children.

April 20, 1877

Reverend Arthur Lakes discovers dinosaur fossils in the Morrison Formation along the Dakota Hogback near the town of Morrison. This is the first major—and one of the most important—dinosaur discoveries in North America.

June 23, 1877

The cornerstone is laid for the original Jefferson County Courthouse at 1501 Washington Avenue. The courthouse and jail open on February 15, 1878, and are demolished in 1963.

October 13, 1877

1. A. Strouse of Morrison exhibits seven varieties of cabbage at the State Fair.

April 1878

Jarvis and Matthews Halls burn to the ground, leaving the Mines building standing alone. 

September 1, 1879

The first Jefferson County telephone service is established by the Golden Telephone and Dispatch Company.

October 14, 1879

The County Clerk’s Office receives a telephone.

October 24, 1879

The Golden Opera House, Jefferson County’s first theatrical venue, opens on Washington Avenue.

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1880

The Colorado School of Mines’ Mining Department first offers the Engineer of Mines (E.M.) degree.

March 6, 1880

North School opens in Golden to alleviate overcrowding at South School. The building is demolished in 1965.

May 4, 1880

Adolph Coors buys out his partner, Jacob Schueler, becoming the sole proprietor of the Golden Brewery.

July 16, 1881

The Colorado State Industrial School, for incorrigible young men between the ages of 7 and 16—later known as the Lookout Mountain School for Boys and the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center—opens in Golden. (It is established by legislation on February 12, 1881, by Governor Pitkin.) The facility closes in September 2025.

1882

An unplatted area comprising Wheat Ridge is named by resident Henry Lee, who serves as a state senator from 1885 to 1889. The area is first settled as farmsteads in 1859.

November 7, 1882

An Election Day earthquake, measuring magnitude 6.2—the largest recorded in Jefferson County—shakes Golden, with the effects particularly felt at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

1883

• The Colorado School of Mines holds its first formal commencement for two graduates, William B. Middleton and Walter H. Wylie.
• Buffalo Creek’s J. W. Green purchases the general store from Morrison Timber Company, beginning the J. W. Green Mercantile. The original building burns down in 1896.

September 15, 1884

Sacred Heart College (now Regis University) opens in Morrison’s “Swiss Cottage” with 24 students.

1885

• Begun in 1870, the Welch Ditch is completed to carry water from Clear Creek to agricultural lands east of Golden.
• Coors Brewery offers $0.45 for the return of a dozen empty quart bottles.
• W.W. Wilmore establishes W.W. Wilmore Nursery at what is now 38th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard in Wheat Ridge, specializing in growing dahlias.

1886

• The community of Fairmount is established.
• Adolph Coors, Joachim Binder, and James Ward incorporate Colorado Glass Works at 600 9th Street in Golden to produce glass products, including beer bottles.

July 12, 1886

An explosion destroys the Venture Giant Powder Company, located near Morrison.

1887

• The Town of Broomfield is established. Originally called Zang’s Spur, the town is located in Adams and Boulder counties as well as Jefferson County.
• Golden Glass Works begins producing bottles for Coors Brewery and others.

December 15, 1887

Electricity first comes to Jefferson County when the Golden Illuminating Company’s power plant goes online.

1888

George West’s son, Leslie B. West, begins working for the Transcript.

December 11, 1888

Chief Colorow, one of the most familiar Native American leaders in Jefferson County, dies of pneumonia at the Ouray Agency in Utah.

1889

• The first international student graduates from the Colorado School of Mines.
• Arvada Cemetery, established in 1863, is formally incorporated.

May 13, 1889

The Edgewater town plat is filed.

July 1, 1889

The Lakewood town plat is filed.

September 9, 1889

The White Ash Coal Mine disaster occurs when a tunnel built under Clear Creek in Golden floods, drowning ten men whose bodies are never recovered.

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June 1890

• A fire in Morrison destroys 23 businesses on Main Street.
• Westminster is platted as Harris Park. Originally called Harrisburg, the name is changed to Westminster in 1908.

July 21, 1890

A severe rainstorm begins after a long dry spell, causing Clear Creek to flood and claiming three lives in Clear Creek Canyon.

1891

George West gives half ownership of the Transcript to his son Leslie; the publisher becomes “Geo. West & Son.”

September 20, 1891

The first tramway service from Denver to Lakewood and Golden begins operation by the Denver, Lakewood & Golden Railway Company. It later becomes part of the Denver Tramway Corporation and is popularly known as the “Loop.”

^{The Golden Depot and Tramway Car, Golden, Colorado}

October 28, 1891

The Morrison Stone, Lime & Town Company files the first addition to the Morrison town plat.

July 4, 1892

Mount Olivet Cemetery opens. It is called “The New City of the Dead.”

1893

• The World’s Columbian Exposition is held in Chicago, where Coors exhibits its beer and the Golden Pressed & Fire Brick Company showcases its products; both companies win awards.
• Brooks Field, home of the Colorado School of Mines football team, opens.

November 7, 1893

Women’s suffrage is approved statewide by a 55% to 45% margin. Jefferson County men approve suffrage by 62%, higher than the statewide average.

April 3, 1894

Golden citizens elect the first woman to hold public office in Jefferson County: Ella Deaver is elected Treasurer of the City of Golden.

May 30–June 1, 1894

Floods hit Clear Creek, Bear Creek, and the South Platte River, causing major damage along the rivers and in Golden and Morrison.

November 1894

Ball lightning illuminates the sky over Golden.

June 11, 1895

George Morrison dies.

December 18, 1895

Alexander Rooney, founder of Rooney Ranch, dies. His wife, Emeline Rooney, dies on July 20, 1900.

1896

Sparks from a passing train ignite a fire in Buffalo Creek, burning the original J. W. Green Mercantile building and much of the town.

July 24, 1896

• The Great Flood, caused by massive thunderstorms, inundates Bear Creek, Clear Creek, Cub Creek, Golden Gate Canyon, Mount Vernon Canyon, the South Platte River, and Tucker Gulch. Twenty-nine lives are lost in Evergreen, Golden, Morrison, and Mount Vernon Canyon, with extensive material destruction in Clear Creek Canyon, Golden, and Morrison.
• The flood destroys the Town of Morrison’s business district.

1897

Margaret “Molly” Tobin Brown’s summer home, “Avoca Lodge,” is completed in Jefferson County at South Wadsworth Boulevard and West Yale Avenue.

1898

• Florence Caldwell, the first female student at the Colorado School of Mines, graduates.
• Harley Dean West, George West’s younger son, makes his writing debut in the Transcript from the front lines of the Spanish-American War.

August 28, 1898

A train wreck near Dome Rock Station claims the life of William “Billy” G. Westall, an engineer for the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad. While guiding a train carrying 450 passengers back to Denver, Westall discovers the tracks ahead are blocked. He attempts to stop the train, but it strikes debris and overturns, pinning and seriously injuring him. All passengers survive, but Westall dies later that night.

1899

The City of Golden passes an ordinance prohibiting donkeys, cows, and sheep from running loose in the streets.

September 4, 1899

The A.O.U.W. (Ancient Order of United Workmen) erects a monument near Dome Rock Station along the North Fork of the South Platte River, about halfway through the canyon, to honor Billy Westall. Students from West Jefferson Middle School work to preserve and restore the monument from 2012 to 2014.

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March 10, 1900

The Morrison Bud newspaper becomes the Jefferson County Graphic.

March 29, 1900

A judge orders Morrison’s only saloon closed.

August 3, 1900

The Colorado State Home and Industrial School for Girls, established by statute in 1887 for wayward girls ages 6 to 18, moves to Morrison in Jefferson County. The name is changed to Mount View Girls’ School in 1961.

November 3, 1900

The Geijsbeek Pottery business opens near Golden.

1901

• Edgewater is incorporated.
• Alferd Packer, recently paroled, works as a ranch hand on Rooney Ranch.

1902

• Coors Brewery wins an international brewing award in Prague (now the capital of the Czech Republic).
• Table Mountain Resort opens in Golden, featuring bowling and evening dances.
• The Denver Interurban electric streetcar begins service from downtown Denver to Arvada.

June 7, 1902

A hay wagon carrying Denver High School students overturns on Red Hill near Morrison, killing two and injuring 12 others.

June 12, 1902

A rockslide occurs at Morrison’s stone quarry.

1903

• The coal-mining company town of Leyden (pronounced “Ly-den”) is established.
• The Colorado National Guard’s Rifle Range is established; renamed Camp George West in 1934.
• The George West family forms the Transcript Printing Company, a family corporation.

December 16, 1903

The Morrison Stone, Lime & Town Company files the second addition to the Town of Morrison plat.

1904

• The Jewish Consumptive Relief Society (JCRS) is founded in Lakewood as a nonsectarian sanatorium to treat tuberculosis patients in all stages of the disease. Patients come from across North America and are admitted free of charge. The sanatorium is headed by Dr. Charles Spivak and Phillip Hillkowitz.
• George C. Swadley becomes the first president of Arvada Bank.

August 1904

The City of Arvada is incorporated.

October 11, 1904

The Town of Mountain View (“Mount View”) is incorporated.

1905

• Cheesman Dam on the South Platte River—at 221 feet tall, the world’s tallest dam at the time—is completed.
• The Golden Illuminating Company installs streetlights in Golden, the first incandescent streetlamps in the state.

August 9, 1905

The Evangelical Lutheran Sanatorium is established as a tent colony for tuberculosis patients in Wheat Ridge. It later becomes Lutheran Hospital.

^{Administration Building, Evangelical Lutheran Sanitarium, Edgewater, Colorado}

1906

John Brisben Walker purchases the Park of the Red Rocks, renaming it the Garden of the Titans.

January 9, 1906

An election to incorporate the Town of Morrison passes 69–0. The town is officially incorporated on January 29.

February 14, 1906

The first Morrison Town Board meeting is held.

May 31, 1906

The Garden of the Titans (Red Rocks Park) celebrates its grand opening, including the earliest documented performance at the amphitheater.

November 15, 1906

George West, publisher of the Colorado Transcript, dies.

1907

• Alleged Colorado cannibal Alferd Packer, a resident of Deer Creek after his release from prison in 1901, dies.
• Charles Pruden and partners plat the townsite of Forest Park near the Moffat Road.

January 8, 1907

A wildfire destroys Wilson Ranch and threatens the town of Leyden.

April 9, 1907

A 30-square-mile section at the extreme southern tip of Jefferson County is transferred to Park County.

August 28, 1907

A flood destroys the Town of Morrison’s water supply and railroad bridges.

October 24, 1907

The sheriff raids “Pete’s Place” in Mountain View. Two roulette wheels recovered from the saloon are taken to Golden and burned in front of the courthouse.

November 12, 1907

The small town of Lakeside is incorporated.

1908

• Crown Hill Cemetery is established. The Tower of Memories is built between 1926 and 1948.
• Harrisburg changes its name to Westminster.
• John Brisben Walker renovates the old Jesuit College of the Sacred Heart in Morrison, converting it into the Mount Morrison Hotel and Casino.
• Walker completes a road to the top of Mount Falcon from Morrison, celebrating with a Festival of Lanterns.

April 7, 1908

The Town of Morrison votes 81 “wet” to 9 “dry.”

May 15, 1908

The “M” emblem for the Colorado School of Mines is placed on Mount Zion by students, faculty, and a train of burros. It is designed by Joe O’Byrne.

May 31, 1908

Lakeside Amusement Park opens.

July 30, 1908

George Hering of Denver makes the first automobile ascent of Castle Rock on South Table Mountain near Golden in his 20-horsepower Stanley Steamer, reaching the summit in 12 minutes and 45 seconds.

September 10, 1908

The first silent film is shown in Golden at the Electric Theatre (later called the Gem) on Jackson Street.

1909

Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini purchases property on Lookout Mountain above Jackson Gulch, where she builds a summer home for Denver orphans. The stone house is completed in 1914.

September 5, 1909

The Mount Morrison Incline Railway funicular opens—the longest in the world at the time. Built by John Brisben Walker, it carries tourists to the Mount Morrison Hotel and Casino and serves as an additional attraction for his “Garden of the Titans,” now Red Rocks Park.

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1910

Arvada’s iconic water tower is built. It is decommissioned in 1977.

August 1910

Public travel on mountain roads is deemed dangerous. Signs are placed on sharp curves warning drivers to slow down and sound their horns.

December 10, 1910

The Herold China and Pottery Company is incorporated by John J. Herold. It later becomes Coors Porcelain in the 1920s, Coors Ceramics in 1986, and CoorsTek in the 2000s.

December 14, 1910

The Leyden Coal Mine fire disaster kills ten miners and injures several others. Shaft No. 2 is destroyed, but the mine rebuilds.

1911

• The Town of Westminster is incorporated.
• John Brisben Walker’s private summer retreat on Mount Falcon is completed; it burns down in 1918.
• Charles Pruden files and plats the townsite of Plainview Park, the last stop on the Moffat Road before it climbs into the mountains.

February 23, 1911

Sheriff Dennis orders all prisoners in the county jail to whitewash, paint, and clean their cells.

May 10, 1911

A concert by renowned opera singer Mary Garden brings international attention to Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

September 7, 1911

Standley Lake is formally dedicated by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson.

May 1912

Denver voters approve the Mountain Parks Charter Amendment, establishing a one-half mill property tax levy to fund Denver Mountain Parks. Genesee Park, the largest mountain park, is acquired.

July 6, 1912

The Lookout Mountain Funicular is completed, featuring two cars that seat 32 passengers each. The railroad is abandoned after completion of the Lariat Trail roadway.

August 2, 1912

Two people are shot and the South Platte Hotel is destroyed when a gunman/arsonist terrorizes South Platte. The hotel is later rebuilt.

1913

• The Castle Rock Mountain Railway funicular begins operation, carrying tourists to a dance hall and casino atop Castle Rock on South Table Mountain.
• The four-story National Guard Armory, constructed from local cobblestones (possibly the largest cobblestone building in the country), is built in Golden.
• The Adolph Coors Company is incorporated.
• Foss Drug opens at 1224 Washington Avenue in Golden in a new 1,300-square-foot Mission Revival–style brick storefront.
• Adolph Coors becomes president of the Herold China and Pottery Company (later CoorsTek).

April 15, 1913

The Colorado Legislature authorizes the City of Denver to establish Denver Mountain Parks in mountain areas of Jefferson, Clear Creek, and Grand counties.

May 17, 1913

Charles Quaintance opens a dance pavilion and light tower on South Table Mountain and builds a road to the summit, offering tourists donkey rides to the top of Castle Rock.

December 4–5, 1913

The Blizzard of 1913 drops 4 to 5 feet of snow in Golden, Arvada, Morrison, and Evergreen—the largest 24-hour and overall snowfall totals on record for Jefferson County. The deaths of pioneer John Bergen of Evergreen and Golden dairyman John Klaassens are attributed to the storm.

December 31, 1913

Sheriff Joseph Dennis orders all slot machines in Jefferson County to shut down.

1914

The Lariat Trail (also known as the Lariat Loop Road) to Lookout Mountain Park is completed by William “Cement Bill” Williams.

1915

• George Turner begins building Turnerville—the precursor to Tiny Town—on the site of the Denver-Leadville Stagecoach Station. Originally built to entertain his young daughter, it opens to the public in 1920.
• Enterprise Grange No. 25 constructs a new Grange Hall at 72nd Avenue and Simms Street.

1916

• Coors Brewery dumps approximately 17,000 gallons of beer into Clear Creek due to Prohibition. The brewery adapts by producing a nonalcoholic beverage called Mannah and malted milk.
• The Town of Morrison purchases its first fire equipment: a two-wheeled, hand-pulled hose cart with 500 feet of hose.

January 1, 1916

Statewide Prohibition takes effect, four years before the federal Volstead Act.

1917

• Lorraine Lodge (now the Boettcher Mansion), Charles Boettcher’s summer home on Lookout Mountain, is completed. Designed by Denver architects Fisher & Fisher, the Arts and Crafts–style home is gifted to Jefferson County in 1972 and is now open for tours and special events.
• Mother Cabrini dies.
• Long Bros. Garage opens in Conifer.

June 3, 1917

Buffalo Bill, who died on January 10, 1917, is buried atop Lookout Mountain near the future site of the Pahaska Tepee (built in 1921 as his museum). Approximately 20,000 mourners attend.

1918

• Chief Hosa Lodge, designed by Jules Jacques Benois Benedict, opens in Genesee Park as a restaurant and rest stop along U.S. Highway 40.
• John Brisben Walker’s Mount Falcon retreat burns down.

June 1918

Dr. Archibald G. Staunton homesteads Staunton Ranch. The property eventually grows to 1,720 acres and is donated to the State of Colorado in 1986 by Frances H. Staunton. Staunton State Park opens in May 2013 as Colorado’s 41^st state park.

1918–1919

The Spanish influenza epidemic strikes Jefferson County, hospitalizing hundreds and claiming numerous lives, including Golden City Councilor Oscar Nolin and pharmacist Henry Foss. All public meetings and assemblies are banned.

1919

• The Golden Chautauqua is organized and first held in a large tent on the field in front of Stratton Hall at the Colorado School of Mines. It continues for four seasons.
• Mrs. Clemency McIlvoy deeds her home and three acres to the Town of Arvada to create the town’s first park.

January 16, 1919

The federal Volstead Act brings Prohibition to the entire country.

July 4, 1919

The cornerstone for the Summer White House is placed on Mount Falcon.

August 10, 1919

The first airplane to fly over Golden passes over Genesee Mountain and drops a wreath on Buffalo Bill’s grave.

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1920

Troutdale in the Pines resort hotel opens in Evergreen. It closes in the 1960s and is demolished in 1994.

November 1920

The cornerstone is laid for a new consolidated school, known as the Bear Creek Valley School.

December 13, 1921

The Satanic Coal Mine disaster near Morrison claims the lives of six men and injures one when the mine fills with deadly firedamp gas.

1922

Chief’s Inn, or Ho Cha Nee Stea, is built as a local tearoom and soda fountain for sightseers and prospective land buyers in Indian Hills.

April 14, 1922

The first public gathering of the Ku Klux Klan in Jefferson County occurs at the present site of Heritage Square, complete with blazing torches. The Klan targets Catholics, Jews, and Black residents for intimidation.

July 9, 1922

The New York Building on the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society (JCRS) campus is dedicated.

September 27, 1923

The Ku Klux Klan erects and burns a large wooden cross atop South Table Mountain on Castle Rock above Golden. The site becomes a major regional meeting place for the Klan.

1924

• The first Homecoming celebration for the Colorado School of Mines is held.
• The Octagon House in Indian Hills is built; it is landmarked in 2004.
• The Center Stage building in Evergreen is built, originally serving as the Meeting House of the Music Conference Complex.
• Washington Avenue in Golden is paved for the first time and lined with ornamental streetlights.
• Tiny Town begins its heyday, featuring 125 buildings, including a genuine pueblo structure with Native Americans from a New Mexico reservation. The attraction hosts 20,000 visitors per year.

June 1, 1924

Carrie Critchfield joins CoorsTek as company secretary and assistant office manager.

1925

• NaTeSo Pueblo is built in Indian Hills as a promotional real estate project by George Olinger. It is made of adobe bricks, handmade and laid by members of the Navajo, Tesuque, and San Ildefonso nations brought from New Mexico by Olinger.
• Mars Candy Company names Coors its #1 malted milk supplier during Prohibition.

May 2, 1925

A moonshine still explosion causes a forest fire in Coal Creek Canyon near Carter Lake.

August 8, 1925

An estimated 10,000 robed and hooded women members of the Ku Klux Klan march in a large parade down Wadsworth Avenue in Arvada.

October 2, 1925

Morrison’s Park View Subdivision is platted by John Brisben Walker.

1926

• Arvada Flour Mills is built by E.E. Benjamin.
• The Golden Chateau opens as a roadhouse and dancehall on Easley Road in Golden. The building now houses the Golden Elks Club.

1927

• Temple Hoyne Buell designs the third Fruitdale School at 10801 W. 44th Avenue in Wheat Ridge. The building reuses portions of the foundation of the second Fruitdale School, which burned in 1926. It is added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
• Vera West becomes the first woman editor of a Golden newspaper (wife of George West’s son Harley).
• The Conley Coffee Shop, advertising “the best pies you ever tasted,” opens in Conifer.

August 7, 1927

The dance hall atop Golden’s Castle Rock burns down, believed to be arson.

October 31, 1927

The Dance Hall of Durham & Sydow in Morrison burns down.

April 5, 1928

Sheriff Walter Johnson institutes fingerprinting and photographing of each prisoner in the Jefferson County Jail. Information is sent to the newly formed Colorado State Bureau of Identification and Investigation.

August 9, 1928

Sheriff Walter Johnson is attacked during a jailbreak.

1929

• A flood on Turkey Creek damages Tiny Town.
• The grotto at Mother Cabrini Shrine (a replica of the grotto at Lourdes, France) is built; it is replaced in 1959.

April 17, 1929

A Federal Grand Jury indicts Sheriff Walter Johnson for conspiracy to violate the Prohibition Amendment. He is charged with accepting money from bootleggers in Park and Jefferson Counties.

June 5, 1929

Adolph Coors dies in Virginia Beach, Virginia, after falling from a sixth-floor balcony at the Cavalier Hotel.

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July 11, 1930

Funicular fire occurs on Lookout Mountain.

1931

• The Colorado School of Mines’ "M" on Mount Zion is lit for the first time.
• John Brisben Walker dies in Brooklyn, New York.

January 26, 1931

Officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and Denver Police raid the LaPalmarte Roadhouse on W. 38th Avenue in Wheat Ridge, arresting 25 men for distributing bootleg liquor in the Denver Metro area.

1932

• Turkey Creek flood damages Tiny Town for the second time.
• County employees agree to take a pay cut to remain employed.

March 19, 1932

The Colorado School of Mines emblem, the "M" on Mount Zion, is permanently lit.

May 5, 1932

First sheriff’s officer assigned to motorcycle patrol duty, regulating traffic on highways in and out of Morrison. The officer uses a Harley-Davidson with a sidecar.

November 1932

Colorado voters approve the repeal of Prohibition with 67% of the vote.

1933

Morrison Trout Ranch is built along Bear Creek by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

April 1933

City of Arvada issues its first tavern license to the Dutch Inn, later becoming the Arvada Tavern in Olde Town.

April 7, 1933

3.2% beer can legally be sold in Colorado, even though federal Prohibition remains in effect.

July 7–8, 1933

Bear Creek flood, starting at Sawmill Gulch and Mount Vernon Creek near Idledale, claims five lives. Major destruction occurs along Bear Creek Canyon Road between Idledale and Morrison, as well as in the Town of Morrison.

December 5, 1933

Prohibition ends nationally.

1934

The Colorado National Guard Rifle Range is renamed Camp George West. During WWII, the camp houses training schools for 200 guard dogs and military police, and German prisoners of war are held there.

March 4, 1934

Major windstorm hits Golden, tearing the roof off the Everett Block at 12th and Washington Avenue and slamming it into the Rubey Block across the street.

July 5, 1934

Camp George West opens by order of General Neil Kimball to house 800 homeless men seeking work.

August 9, 1934

Floods of Bear Creek and Mount Vernon Creek claim six lives and cause extensive property damage near Kittredge.

1935

• Fire destroys Tiny Town’s Indian pueblo and many buildings, though miniature businesses and residences survive.
• Ralston Dam construction begins as a Depression-era federal works project (1935–1939).

1936

• Silent film star Pete Morrison is appointed special deputy and later becomes a member of the Sheriff’s Mounted Posse.
• Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison is built by the CCC under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Denver Mountain Parks (1936–1940). The amphitheatre is dedicated June 15, 1941.

January 30, 1936

A night shift is added to the Sheriff’s Department patrol schedule for the first time, aimed at preventing nighttime raids on mountain cattle herds.

1937

Coors’ classic slogan, “Brewed with pure Rocky Mountain spring water,” is adopted.

March 27, 1937

Denver Fire Clay Mine, north of Golden, caves in, trapping three miners; one escapes. After 18 hours, all miners are rescued uninjured.

November 18, 1937

Denver's KLZ radio station begins broadcasting to all sheriff’s deputies with AM radios in their cars, allowing ranchers to report cattle rustling and other incidents in remote areas more efficiently.

1938

• Federal Correctional Institute establishes a federal prison farm south of Green Mountain.
• William Heckethorn incorporates Heckethorn Manufacturing and Supply in Littleton, producing artillery shells and mortar fuses for the armed services.

August 15, 1938

Jefferson County Pioneer Museum is established by the Jefferson County Commissioners with aid from the WPA. It operates today as the Golden History Center.

September 2–3, 1938

Bear Creek flood kills six people in Bear Creek Canyon between Morrison and Kittredge, causing $450,000 in damage through Morrison. The Denver Motor Club’s stone clubhouse in Idledale (Starbuck) is destroyed. The WPA provides aid to Morrison following the flood.

^{Men Survey Dance Hall in Aftermath of Morrison Flood of 1938}

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• U.S. Highway 6 through Clear Creek Canyon is constructed.
• During WWII, Coors Porcelain produces high-purity alumina ceramics for the Manhattan Project.

1940

• Golden Post Office at 619 12th Street is built. Designed by Lewis Simon and modeled after other post office buildings of the era, it is constructed with funds from the Public Works Administration.
• Berthoud Hall on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines opens. Designed by Temple Hoyne Buell, it is one of two New Deal buildings on campus. Named after the school’s first geology professor and inaugural board member, Edward L. Berthoud.

October 12, 1940

Undersheriff Clarence Bunch Fugate is the first Jefferson County Sheriff’s officer to die in the line of duty.

1941

• The Federal Government contracts with Remington Arms Company to operate the Denver Ordnance Plant, the largest contract awarded by the federal government in Colorado up to that time. Construction begins in May, with operations starting in October. Now the site of the Denver Federal Center.
• Coors introduces Coors Light beer.
• Jefferson County’s first stoplight is installed at the intersection of Olde Wadsworth Boulevard and Grandview Avenue in Arvada.

June 15, 1941

Red Rocks Amphitheatre is formally dedicated.

September 7, 1942

A Denver-to-Golden interurban car hits a horse at a crossing, killing its 15-year-old rider, Janet Lamoure of Arvada.

April 10, 1943

Two boys from Lakewood, Donald Matta, age 8, and Milo Flint, age 11, are robbed and then pushed off the top of Castle Rock in Golden by William Wymer. Wymer, age 16, is found guilty of slaying the two boys and sentenced to life in prison.

1945

Ruth W. Quinn of Edgewater becomes the first woman to serve on a Jefferson County jury.

1946

• Piggly Wiggly store No. 29 opens in downtown Golden.
• Mother Cabrini is canonized by Pope Pius XII.

August 24, 1946

Flooding from a rainstorm near Idledale overwhelms Bear Creek, killing a woman at Morrison.

1947
The Dollhouse Library opens in Morrison in November. It becomes part of the Jefferson County Public Library system in 1958.

April 6, 1947

First Easter Sunrise Service held at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

1947–1950

Denver Federal Center established on the site of the Denver Ordnance Plant.

1948

Charles Boettcher dies.

June 7, 1948

Second Tucker Gulch flood hits Golden, causing major damage.

July 1, 1948

JCSO places decals on patrol cars to identify them. Members of the Sheriff's Department begin to wear new police-type uniforms for the first time.

August 24, 1948

Town of Morrison holds its first Pioneer Days celebration.

1949

• Golden’s iconic Welcome Arch is built.
• Elmer Wyland establishes the Paul Gregg Pony Club, which is later renamed Lakewood Westernaires.

June 3, 1949

Bill and Dorothy Harmsen open the Jolly Rancher Ice Cream store on Washington Avenue in downtown Golden. They later develop the world-famous Jolly Rancher hard candies.

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The 1950s

• The Golden Hill Climb, an auto race up Lookout Mountain, is held. The event is short-lived and ultimately canceled by Colorado’s governor for safety reasons.
• Glenn L. Martin Company builds its new Titan missile factory in Waterton Canyon.

1950

• All Jefferson County school districts consolidate into the state’s largest school district, Jefferson County R-1.
• Construction of Morrison's first firehouse behind the original town hall off Mt. Vernon Avenue begins. The building is used for the next 20 years.

July 3, 1950

Denver Tramway Company ends streetcar service; buses become the primary means of transportation.

October 25, 1950

Groundbreaking for construction of the new $575,000 courthouse at 17th and Arapahoe in Golden.

1951

• Coors Brewery begins brewery tours for tourists.
• Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners applies to the Department of Commerce for a site for an airport.

February 13, 1951

Jefferson County Civil Defense Department is established. The name changes to the Department of Emergency Preparedness in 1973.

July 10, 1951

Groundbreaking for the first building of the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant in Jefferson County.

1952

• Jefferson County Public Library is established by the Board of County Commissioners.
• KFEL Channel 2 begins broadcasting television signals throughout the Denver Metro area from Lookout Mountain.
• Newly invented metal street signs replace the old wooden signs throughout the county.
• Owl's Head fire near Mount Evans burns 200 acres.

January 25, 1952

Denver–Boulder Turnpike opens.

March 1, 1952

Sheriff Enlow forms the Sheriff's Mounted Posse, inducting 25 residents of the Evergreen area with Dr. John Hunt as their leader.

April 10, 1952

A B-25 bomber crashes on Mount Tom west of Golden after taking off from Golden Memorial Airfield. Ten airmen and one civilian die in the crash.

August 1952

Television sets are sold for the first time in Jefferson County.

November 1, 1952

The first locally televised football game between Colorado School of Mines and Idaho State; Mines lose the game.

November 15, 1952

The first nationally televised Colorado football game, Colorado School of Mines versus Colorado College, played at the School of Mines’ Brooks Field and shown on KFEL-TV Channel 2.

1953

• Second Jefferson County courthouse completed in Golden at 17th and Arapahoe; demolished in 1999.
  
  

^{1953 Jefferson County Courthouse}

• Jefferson Symphony Orchestra begins performing.
• Rocky Flats nuclear weapons production facility begins production of bomb components, manufacturing plutonium triggers.
• Uranium-rich ore discovered on land northwest of Golden. The Schwartzwalder Mine is the most productive uranium mine in the U.S. until operations cease in 2000.
• Sheriff Enlow begins the Youth Division program to educate younger citizens in the field of law enforcement.

1954

• Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society (JCRS) transforms into the American Medical Center at Denver, concentrating on cancer research. The name is later changed to AMC Cancer Research Center and Hospital.
• Sacred Heart of Jesus statue at Mother Cabrini Shrine on Lookout Mountain is carved by an Italian sculptor and shipped from Italy in five pieces.

August 10, 1954

Five prisoners of the county jail escape by sawing bars off a high window.

1955

• Martin-Marietta Company (originally the Glenn L. Martin Company), now Lockheed-Martin, is established in South Jefferson County near Waterton.
• Coors Brewery produces over one million barrels of beer.
• Business leaders draft articles of incorporation for the Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation; Raymond Stebbins is elected its first president.

April 1955

The first dial telephones go into operation in Jefferson County.

June 2, 1955

Sheriff Enlow announces an evacuation plan for Jefferson County in case of nuclear attack or enemy strike on the Colorado Front Range.

1956

Conifer residents May and Rudy Long start an ambulance service, transporting patients to locations from Fairplay to Denver.

March 1956

Sheriff Carl Enlow is indicted on tax evasion.

August 30, 1956

Grand opening of Lakeside Shopping City west of Lakeside Amusement Park on W. 44th Avenue. First fully enclosed and air-conditioned shopping center in the United States.

1957

• County jail and Sheriff’s residence built next to the 1953 courthouse at 16th and Arapahoe Streets in Golden. It is later used as the Assessor/Treasurer building.
• Coors Brewery workers strike over wages and benefits.
• Coors ends all malted milk operations after 40 years.

January 1957

Indictment of Jefferson County Sheriff Carl Enlow for income tax evasion related to slot machine and gambling payoffs. Found guilty and sentenced to three years in the State Penitentiary.

February 1957

The JCRS Shopping Center opens on West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood.

May 1957

Jefferson County Public Schools’ "Operation Kids" is created for mass evacuation of schoolchildren in case of an atomic attack.

1958

• The Town of Bow Mar is established and incorporated, located in both Jefferson and Arapahoe Counties.
• Bandimere Speedway opens. It permanently closes in October 2023.

1959

• Coors develops the first two-piece aluminum can and begins marketing beer in 7 oz. cans.
• Colorado Railroad Museum opens, founded by Robert W. Richardson and Cornelius W. Hauck to preserve historic railroad equipment.
• Westernaires relocate to "Fort Westernaire" near the Jeffco Fairgrounds in Golden, and an arena is built.
• Bob and Jim Echter begin Echter's greenhouse operation in Arvada as growers of cut carnations.

March 1959

Plans for the Jefferson County Airport are approved for a site southwest of Broomfield.

August 1, 1959

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Jefferson County Airport are held at the site near Broomfield. The Westernaires perform, and construction of the airport begins.

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The 1960s

Blaster, a miniature burro, becomes the mascot of the Colorado School of Mines.

February 9, 1960

Adolph Coors, III kidnapped and murdered near Morrison. Joseph Corbett, Jr. found guilty of the crime in 1961.

May 30, 1960

East Tincup theme park opens just south of Golden off Colfax Avenue. The popular western-themed entertainment and shopping destination operates until 1963.

June 30, 1960

Magic Mountain Amusement Park officially opens for the season. Closes for good later that summer due to financial problems. Reopens in 1971 as Heritage Square.

July 30, 1960

Jefferson County Airport opens (now known as Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport).

August 1, 1960

First phase of Westland Shopping Center opens on West Colfax at Miller Street in Lakewood.

October 16, 1960

Dedication of the newly opened Jefferson County Airport (now known as Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport).

1960–1964

Denver Broncos hold training camps at Colorado School of Mines; players stay in the dorms.

1961

• Broomfield is incorporated.
• Lutheran Hospital, once a tuberculosis sanatorium, opens as a community-based, non-profit, general medical facility in Wheat Ridge. It later becomes Lutheran Medical Center. Officially closes August 3, 2024, moving to a brand-new facility in the Clear Creek Crossing development.
• Glenn L. Martin Company merges with American-Marietta Corporation to become Martin Marietta.
• Foss Drug in Golden becomes Foss Drug General Store, expanding to 23,000 sq. ft.

March 29, 1961

Joseph Corbett, Jr. found guilty of murdering Adolph Coors, III.

March 30, 1961

Colorado State Home and Industrial School for Girls, located in Morrison, changes name to Mount View Girl’s School.

April 30, 1962

Sheriff Arthur Wermuth removed from office after being indicted on embezzlement of public funds.

September 4, 1962

Martha Swann becomes the first female sworn deputy in the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, followed by Madeline Pearce in 1965.

1963

• Building in Olde Town Arvada that housed the Arvada Bakery becomes Dimmer's Home Bakery, which later becomes Rheinlander Bakery.
• Mount Lindo cross, created by Francis Van Derbur, built on Mount Lindo.

January 11, 1963

All-time coldest temperature in Jefferson County of −56 degrees recorded in Buffalo Creek.

May 25, 1963

First Jefferson County courthouse, jail, and Sheriff’s residence at 1501 Washington Avenue demolished and replaced with a convenience store and the Cow Palace, one of Golden’s first fast food joints.

August 1963

Girl Scout Camp Counselor Margaret Beck found dead in her tent at the Flying G Girl Scout Camp near Deckers.

1964

• Colorado School of Mines opens first dormitory for women.
• The letter "G" on South Table Mountain painted for the first time by members of the Golden High School Letterman Club.
• Mount Lindo cross, the largest lighted cross in the United States, first lit up on Easter night.

August 1964

Movie actor John Ashley visits the Arvada Police Department while in town to promote his newest movie, Bikini Beach, also starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

August 26, 1964

The Beatles perform at Red Rocks. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department personnel were on hand to control the hysteria.

1965

• Floods hit Clear Creek, Tucker Gulch, and South Platte, causing major metro area damage.
• A Westernaires team acts as members of U.S. Cavalry troops in the movie Stagecoach.

1966

• Jefferson County Hall of Justice completed at 18th and Arapahoe Streets in Golden.
• Construction of Interstate 70 in Jefferson County begins at Sheridan Boulevard.
• Deaton Sculptured House / Spaceship House built on Genesee Mountain overlooking I-70. Designed by Charles Deaton and made famous in the 1973 Woody Allen movie Sleeper.
• Tiny Town closes and is put up for sale, but no buyers found.
• Jolly Rancher Company sold to Beatrice Foods; Bill Harmsen stays on to operate the business.

March 10, 1966

Villa Italia Mall opens on a portion of the Belmar estate at the southeast corner of Alameda and Wadsworth in Lakewood.

1967

• Rockmont College, now Colorado Christian University, moves to Lakewood.
• Toll removed from the Denver-Boulder Turnpike.
• Construction of Interstate 70 between Sheridan Boulevard and Wadsworth Boulevard (two miles) completed.

February 1967

New 62 ft. high, $384,000 FAA control tower opens at the Jefferson County Airport (now the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport).

April 10, 1967

Earthquake measuring over 5 on the Richter Scale hits Golden as the first in a swarm of 17 artificial earthquakes caused by deep well chemical injection at Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

1968

• Construction of Interstate 70 between Wadsworth Boulevard and Kipling Street (two miles) and between Kipling Street and Ward Road (1.7 miles) completed.
• Carrie Critchfield becomes the first woman elected to the Golden City Council.
• The "Space Age"-designed Bonfils-Stanton Regional Library opens adjacent to Villa Italia Mall.

June 29, 1968

Fifteen members of a cosmic ray project at Echo Lake trapped by the Lincoln Lake fire. Caused by inadequately extinguished campfires, burns 740 acres.

1969

• Westminster annexed into Jefferson County, including Standley Lake.
• Construction of Interstate 70 between West Colfax Avenue and State Highway 26 / U.S. 40 junction — entrance to Mount Vernon Canyon (2.9 miles) completed. (Construction began in 1967.)
• Flood destroys Tiny Town.
• School of Mines math professor Dr. Donald Marsh asked by the San Francisco, CA police department to help decode the Zodiac Killer’s cryptograms.

January 20, 1969

Lakewood High School band and flag team march in President Richard Nixon’s inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., the only band from Colorado selected to march in the parade.

May 1969

"Keep Jefferson County Beautiful Month." Members of the Compass Women’s Club and others volunteer to clean up and beautify the area surrounding the Arapahoe City roadside monument, erected in 1946 and located on the south side of W. 44th Avenue just west of McIntyre Street. The monument marks the location of Jeffco’s first town, Arapahoe City, founded in 1858.

May 11, 1969

Fire at Rocky Flats plant releases a small amount of radioactive plutonium contamination, the first time the public becomes aware of contaminant releases from the plant. The fire is considered the costliest industrial accident in United States history at that time.

June 3, 1969

Voters give overwhelming approval for a new law enforcement district for unincorporated Jeffco called the Law Enforcement Authority (LEA).

June 17, 1969

The City of Wheat Ridge is incorporated.

June 24, 1969

The City of Lakewood incorporates as Jefferson City, officially changing its name to Lakewood in November 1969.

September 4, 1969

New Golden Post Office building collapses while under construction, injuring four and killing Michael Dossie, son of the foreman.

October 1969

Two early snowstorms dump nearly 24 inches of snow in Golden on October 3–4, followed by 16 inches more over October 10–12.

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1970

• Construction of Interstate 70 between Ward Road and West Colfax Avenue — U.S. 40 (4 miles) completed.
• Construction of Interstate 70 between State Highway 26 and Lookout Mountain Exit — Mount Vernon Canyon (2.8 miles) and between Lookout Mountain Exit and Genesee Mountain (2.4 miles) completed.
• Arvada’s first public golf course, Indian Tree Golf Club, opens.
• The “Lawmen” singing group of Jeffco Sheriff’s deputies invited to the White House by President Richard M. Nixon.

January 15, 1970

Coors launches the “Cash for Cans” aluminum recycling program.

May 12, 1970

Denver is awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics. The organizing committee considers the Evergreen Indian Hills area as a venue for Nordic events. After public outcry over costs and environmental impact, Denver officially withdraws on November 15, 1970, and the games are eventually awarded to Innsbruck, Austria.

1971

• Heritage Square opens on the old site of Magic Mountain.
• Foss Liquor in Golden, which had introduced a house-brand whiskey called Ski Country, begins releasing unique porcelain art decanters.
• Jeffco Sheriff’s Office Bomb Squad organized.

June 10, 1971

Riot breaks out at Red Rocks Park before a Jethro Tull concert, resulting in the concert being canceled and tear gas dropped on rioters from low-flying helicopters.

December 1971

PLAN Jeffco (a nonprofit, citizen-led advocacy group dedicated to the conservation of open space) is born.

1972

• Jefferson County voters approve a one-half-percent sales tax for Open Space, inaugurating the County’s award-winning Open Space Program.
• Construction of Interstate 70 through remaining portions of Jefferson County completed (between Genesee Mountain and El Rancho Exit [2 miles] and El Rancho Exit and Beaver Brook [4 miles]).
• NFL’s Baltimore Colts hold training camp at Colorado School of Mines.
• Lyle Fulkerson begins another Tiny Town restoration.

August 24, 1972

The Arvada Historical Society is incorporated 68 years to the day after the incorporation of the City of Arvada.

1973

• Colorado School of Mines celebrates its Centennial (100 years).
• The Astor House in Golden listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Open Space becomes an official Jefferson County department.
• Colorado Open Land Foundation purchases Mt. Falcon for Jefferson County Open Space.
• Hiwan Homestead purchased by Jefferson County Open Space for use as a museum.

January 2, 1973

Highway 40 removed from the state highway system and placed under county control.

February 5, 1973

Cowboy actor Pete Morrison dies in Los Angeles of an abdominal aneurysm at the age of 82.

May 30, 1973

Jefferson County Civil Defense Department (established in 1951) changes its name to the Department of Emergency Preparedness.

October 25, 1973

Jefferson County Historical Society established. Renamed Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society in 2018.

1974

• First woman, Joanne K. Paterson, elected as a Jefferson County commissioner; she serves 1975–1979.
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory established; begins operating in 1977 as the Solar Energy Research Institute.
• National Earthquake Information Center moves to Colorado School of Mines in Golden.
• Casa Bonita restaurant opens in the JCRS Shopping Center on West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood. Awarded landmark status by the Lakewood Historical Society in 2015.
• Regional Transportation District (RTD) formed.
• Evergreen’s Hiwan Homestead and Buffalo Creek’s J.W. Green Mercantile placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

June 20, 1974

Two small planes collide over Crown Hill Cemetery. One plane falls to the ground in the cemetery and burns, killing four. The other plane belly-lands in Sloan’s Lake; two men inside are able to get out before it sinks and are rescued by a boater.

July 22, 1974

Jefferson County Historical Commission established to guide observances of the Centennial Bicentennial year of 1976. The volunteer group now promotes preservation and use of historical resources and sites around the county.

August 15, 1974

Lakewood Historical Society formed.

1975

Jeffco Housing Department is created to provide adequate housing for low- and moderate-income families residing in the county.

1976

• United States Marine Corps memorial erected at US 6 and Colfax — the only one outside Washington, D.C.
• Morrison Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Jeffco receives national recognition for “progressive county development” by the National Association of Counties for two programs: the Jefferson County Conference and Nature Center and the Solid Waste Satellite Transfer Stations.

June 18, 1976

Walker Square in Morrison dedicated.

July 3–4, 1976

The Festival of the West, a Centennial Bicentennial project of the Jefferson County Historical Commission, is held at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.

July 4, 1976

New Christy Minstrels perform at the debut of the Arvada Center.

August 1, 1976

Lakewood Heritage Center opens as Belmar Museum.

1977

• Federal government imposes a 55 mph speed limit to save gas during the country’s energy crisis.
• Coors Brewery workers strike.
• Arvada’s iconic water tower, built in 1910, is decommissioned.
• Jeffco Sheriff’s Office opens its new communications center, which operates by microwave.
• Jefferson County Open Space acquires Matthews/Winters and Alderfer/Three Sisters parks.

November 4, 1977

Regis College’s centenary is commemorated at Pine Haven in Morrison.

1978

• Tiny Town closes and again falls into disrepair.
• Coors begins marketing Coors Light, the “Silver Bullet.”
• Apex Trail designated part of the National Trails System by U.S. Department of the Interior for its scenic and historic value.

August 9, 1978

Major protest at Rocky Flats plant. Sixty protesters, including Beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg, are arrested for trespassing.

September 10, 1978

The Murphy Gulch forest fire breaks out at 11 a.m. from a juvenile campfire, burning 3,300 acres.

November 4, 1978

Fire engulfs the Golden Transcript building at 1000 10th Street, destroying its typesetting and layout equipment.

January 18, 1979

Morrison’s “Doll House” Library closes permanently.

April 28–29, 1979

An estimated 15,000 people protest near Rocky Flats; 286 protesters are arrested for trespassing.

August 2, 1979

Heritage Square Alpine Slide opens and operates for 37 years before closing for good in 2015.

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1980

• Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office establishes a K-9 Unit.
• Tiny Town reopens, including a puppet theater and pony rides.
• Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society at 6401 W. Colfax Avenue in Lakewood listed as a National Register Historic District.

1981

• Coors begins producing Killian's Irish Red beer.
• Jeffco Open Space acquires Mount Glennon property.

March 31, 1981

Part-time Evergreen resident John Hinckley, Jr. shoots President Ronald Reagan and three others leaving the Washington D.C. Hilton Hotel in a deranged attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster. Hinckley found not guilty by reason of insanity and released from a mental hospital in 2016.

June 3, 1981

The first of three tornadoes touches down at 2:23 p.m. at 6th & Sheridan in Lakewood. A second tornado touches down in Thornton at 88th & Washington at 2:43 p.m., and a third in Fort Lupton at 3:31 p.m.

July 4, 1981

Evergreen holds its first July 4th fireworks over Evergreen Lake.

December 1982

Conifer holds its first Christmas parade.

1983

Tiny Town is again closed to the public.

August 25, 1983

Three-year-old Lori Poland, kidnapped from the front yard of her Sheridan home three days earlier by 21-year-old Robert Thiret, is discovered in the pit of an outhouse near Chief Hosa.

September 1, 1983

Morrison celebrates Art Gore (a renowned 20th-century fine art photographer) Week.

August 2, 1985

Head-on train collision directly under the Boulder Turnpike (Hwy 36) overpass kills five and blows the overpass completely out.

1986

• Sheriff and Detention Facility completed in Jefferson County Government Center campus at 200 Jefferson County Parkway.
• Senator Gary Hart of Kittredge announces his run for the presidency.

June 16, 1987

Jeffco Sheriff’s Aviation Unit Bell 47 helicopter crashes on Scartop Mountain during a search and rescue mission.

1988

• First Rhubarb Festival held in Pine Grove.
• A member of American Atheists tries to have the Mount Lindo cross extinguished permanently. In response, Jeffco Commissioners create zoning for landmark signs.

1989

• Elk Creek Elementary School opens.
• Wildfire in Mount Falcon Open Space Park chars 100 acres — believed to be intentionally set.

May 1989

Tiny Town reopens after restoration.

June 1989

FBI agents and the Environmental Protection Agency raid the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant to investigate environmental crimes, discovering numerous violations. Rocky Flats becomes a Superfund site.

Fall 1989

Human Services building completed in Jefferson County Government Center campus at 900 Jefferson County Parkway.

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1990

• C-470 highway completed through Jefferson County.
• Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum opens in Golden with a collection of 101 quilts donated by its founder, Eugenia Mitchell.
• Red Rocks Park and Mount Morrison Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp Historic District listed on the National Register.

1991

• Jefferson County Archives established by the Board of County Commissioners.
• Lair o’ the Bear designated Best New Park by Westword.

1992

• Jeffco Commissioners reject Goltra mining proposal for properties along Clear Creek.
• Mount Lindo Park property acquired by Jeffco Open Space.

1993

• Administration and Courts Facility completed on the Jefferson County Government Center campus at 100 Jefferson County Parkway.
• Sheriff’s Office rose garden established on the north edge of the Sheriff’s complex at 200 Jefferson County Parkway in an area once used as a construction dump.
• Westernaires trick rider is dragged to her death during a performance at the Festival of the West at the Jeffco Fairgrounds.
• Wagner Ranch purchased for Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center.

April 1993

Arvada celebrates the opening of its new City Hall.

1994

• Denver West annexed into Lakewood.
• Troutdale in the Pines resort hotel in Evergreen demolished.

1995

• Jefferson County’s old 1953 Courthouse, Hall of Justice, and Assessor/Treasurer buildings sold to Colorado School of Mines — buildings demolished in 1999.
• Martin Marietta merges with Lockheed Corporation aerospace company to become Lockheed Martin.
• Coors begins producing Blue Moon wheat ale.
• Open Space Advisory Committee approves construction of $1.8 million Lookout Mountain Nature Center.
• Jeffco Citizen Needs survey identifies buying large tracts of land to be kept undeveloped and building trails as top Open Space priorities; golf courses ranked last.
• Ray Printz, first Jeffco Open Space director, resigns after more than 20 years of service.
• Front Range Mountain Backdrop Project approved by Jeffco Commissioners.

October 1995

Jeffco Open Space Trails Task Force convened to address conflicts between user groups, especially hikers and mountain bikers.

1996

• District Attorney building completed on Jefferson County Government Center campus at 500 Jefferson County Parkway.
• Clear Creek properties (including Goltra land) purchased by Jeffco Open Space.
• Jefferson County designated a Trail Town USA, with 2 million people using 600 miles of trail.
• Hershey Foods buys Jolly Rancher.

May 18, 1996

Buffalo Creek wildfire begins, destroying 12 structures and burning 12,000 acres.

July 12, 1996

Thunderstorm creates a flash flood in the area decimated by the Buffalo Creek fire.

August 5, 1996

Fans of the band Phish riot in Morrison.

1997

• Rocky Flats Plant listed on National Register of Historic Places.
• Lookout Mountain Nature Center opens.

June 1997

G8 Summit leaders visit sites in Jefferson County while meeting in Denver. The highlight of their visit was a meal hosted by The Fort restaurant in Morrison where they ate a meal of exotic game.

September 1997

Seventeen-member Russian delegation from Jefferson County’s sister county, Tver Oblast, visits Jefferson County and other areas in the state.

November 1997

Jefferson County celebrates 25th anniversary of Open Space.

1998

• Golden’s last working clay mine shuts down, closing the book on 132 years of clay mining history (1866–1998).
• Olde Town Arvada added to the National Register of Historic Places.

July 1998

Buffalo Creek floods again, causing extensive damage to the water system and washing away sections of roads.

1999

Tesoro Cultural Center founded by Holly Arnold Kinney, owner and proprietress of The Fort restaurant.

April 20, 1999

Columbine High School massacre takes place when two students open fire in the school, killing 13 and injuring 24. (Death toll rises to 14 with the death of shooting victim Anne Marie Hochhalter in 2025.)

November 24–26, 1999

Jeffco’s old 1953 Courthouse demolished by Colorado School of Mines.

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2000

Ralston Valley High School opens in Arvada in the fall of 2000.

June 12–20, 2000

The Hi-Meadow Fire burns 11,021 acres near Pine and Buffalo Creek, destroying 58 structures and threatening the historic Baehrden Lodge. Causes more than $15 million in damage.

September 11, 2001

Ken Caryl Ranch resident Jason M. Dahl pilots United Airlines Flight 93. Hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists targeting the White House or Capitol, passengers fight back, crashing the plane near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. No survivors.

November 15, 2001

The city of four counties (Boulder, Adams, Weld, and Jefferson) officially becomes the City and County of Broomfield, withdrawing from Jefferson County.

2002

• Colorado Mills Shopping Center opens on West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood.
• Jolly Rancher plant at 5060 Ward Road closes after 53 years.
• Lariat Loop is designated Colorado’s 24th Scenic and Historic Byway by the National Park Service.
• Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design purchases the former JCRS campus in Lakewood, except for the New York Building.
• Father and sons Bob, Steve, and Dave Echter, of Echter's Nursery & Garden Center in Arvada, inducted into the Colorado Floricultural Hall of Fame.

June 8–July 18, 2002

Hayman Fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado history at the time, burns southern Jefferson County and Douglas, Park, and Teller counties, destroying 138,114 acres and 133 homes.

March 17–22, 2003

Second-largest snowstorm on record in Jefferson County dumps 50.5 inches of snow on Golden and almost 31 inches on Arvada.

2004

Belmar Shopping District opens in Lakewood, replacing Villa Italia Mall.

2005

• Laramie Building completed on Jefferson County Government Center campus at 3500 Illinois Street.
• Lockheed Martin moves all rocket building to Alabama; Waterton Canyon location converted to satellite engineering under the name United Launch Alliance.
• Coors merges with Canadian Molson Company (which also controls Miller Brewing Company) to become known as MillerCoors.

November 3, 2005

Major fire strikes Golden’s historic Loveland block, housing the Old Capitol Grill on Washington Avenue. Firefighters succeed in saving the building, confining the blaze to the second floor.

2006

Clean-up of Rocky Flats declared complete.

December 20, 2006

A winter storm dumps 31 inches of snow on Arvada.

2007

• Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge established on land formerly occupied by the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons production facility.
• Foss General Store — a Golden landmark and destination — closes its doors after 94 years (1913–2007).

December 9, 2007

Gunman Matthew Murray kills two and wounds two at the Youth with a Mission Center in Arvada. Murray then travels to Colorado Springs, where he shoots several more people at the New Life Church that afternoon.

2008

First year without a single homicide in unincorporated Jefferson County since 1952.

2009

• Golden celebrates its Sesquicentennial — 150 years.
• Lariat Loop becomes a National Scenic Byway, one of only 150 in the United States.
• Brook Forest Inn near Evergreen added to the National Register of Historic Places and the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.
• Historic Rockland Memorial Community Church and Cemetery added to the National Register of Historic Places.

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2010

• CoorsTek celebrates 100 years in Golden.
• MillerCoors begins manufacturing Banquet Beer, brewed from the original Adolph Coors formula, as well as Colorado Native beer.

May 1, 2010

Basket-handled 6th Avenue Bridge moved into place in Lakewood — the largest object ever moved within Jefferson County. Curving, 17-span Indiana Bridge completed the same year at Golden. Both part of the West Corridor light rail project.

2011

St. Anthony West Hospital, Jefferson County’s first major hospital built from scratch in a century, completed in Lakewood.

November 18, 2011

Jefferson County’s Sesquicentennial Gala held at Jefferson County Fairgrounds.

2012

• James Baugh House at 11361 W. 44th Avenue in Wheat Ridge listed on the National Register of Historic Places — one of the oldest log structures still standing in Colorado.
• Golden Cemetery listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

February 7, 2012

New $23.7 million, state-of-the-art airport traffic control tower at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (formerly Jefferson County Airport) dedicated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

March 26 – April 2, 2012

Lower North Fork Fire claims three lives — first lethal wildfire in Jefferson County in 152 years. The fire spreads over 1,400 acres, burning 23 houses, a barn, and the historic 1887 Lamb School on Kuehster Road.

April 13, 2012

Burial of sesquicentennial time capsule in the Memorial Garden west of the Courts and Administration Building on the Jefferson County Government Center campus.

May 2012

• Colorow Council Tree (at least 400 years old) and Rooney Ranch Picnic Site approved as county’s newest landmarks — first natural features named as landmarks.
• Denver Mountain Parks celebrates its centennial.

September 13, 2012

President Barack Obama visits Golden for a public event — second sitting President known to visit Golden.

November 2012

Colorado voters pass Amendment 64, legalizing marijuana for recreational use (first retail marijuana businesses licensed January 2014).

November 7, 2012

Jefferson County Open Space celebrates its 40th anniversary.

2013

Fruitdale School at 10801 W. 44th Avenue in Wheat Ridge added to the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by Temple Hoyne Buell in 1927.

April 26, 2013

West Corridor light rail line (W Line) opens, linking Golden and parts of Jefferson County with 11 stations connecting to downtown Denver. Line follows the historic Denver, Lakewood, and Golden line.

May 18, 2013

Staunton State Park opens to the public. Staunton Ranch buildings designated as National Rural Historic Landscape on December 4, 2012.

July 7, 2013

Baehrden Lodge in Pine Valley Ranch Park reopens to the public after restoration. Designed by J.J.B. Benedict in 1928.

September 2013

Major floods hit the Front Range. In Jefferson County, Clear Creek, Bear Creek, and Coal Creek Canyon hardest hit.

2014

• Little White Schoolhouse in Conifer added to the National Register of Historic Places.
• MillerCoors’ Golden brewery named Colorado Recycler of the Year by the Colorado Association for Recycling.

January 2014

Colorado’s first retail marijuana businesses are licensed. Cultivation, product, and retail operations prohibited in unincorporated Jefferson County.

October 5, 2014

Travis Sandlin escapes from Jefferson County Detention Center — recaptured 10 days later in Boulder County.

October 17, 2014

Ken-Caryl Ranch celebrates 100 years.

2015

• Colorado School of Mines named top engineering college in the U.S. by USA Today.
• Bradford-Perley site in Ken Caryl Ranch listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Tiny Town celebrates 100 years.
• Red Rocks Park and Mount Morrison Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp designated National Historic Landmarks.
• Church’s Crossing Stage Stop Well designated a Jefferson County Landmark.
• The 1886 District 17 Medlen School listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Casa Bonita restaurant, in the JCRS Shopping Center on West Colfax, awarded Landmark status by the Lakewood Historical Society.

January 2015

Jefferson County Sheriff K-9 Flash passes away from cancer after nine-year tenure.

May 21, 2015

Golden’s Frederick A. “Heinie” Foss, of Foss General Store, dies.

September 8, 2015

Astor House in Golden closes for a two-year rehabilitation and preservation project.

October 1, 2015

Historic Horton House in Morrison severely damaged by fire.

2016

• Jefferson County Archives celebrates 25 years.
• Golden Transcript celebrates 150 years of continuous publication, never having missed an edition.
• Alderfer Ranch House and Barn on Buffalo Park Road declared Jefferson County Landmarks.
• Arvada Jaycee Hall at 5640 Yukon Street, built 1901 to 1902, declared a Jefferson County Landmark.
• “Big Red Barn” at Beaver Ranch, 11299 S Foxton Road in Conifer,  declared Jefferson County Landmark.
• Center for the Arts Building in Evergreen declared Jefferson County Landmark.
• Golden’s Heritage Square Victorian Village and Alpine Slide close by end of year.

September 15, 2016

Joe Coors, Jr., great-grandson of Adolph Coors, dies at age 74.

2017

• CSU Extension celebrates 100 years in Jefferson County.
• Boettcher Mansion on Lookout Mountain celebrates 100th anniversary.
• Romano residence on S. Golden Road added to National Register of Historic Places.
• Olinger Woods Chapel at the corner of Washington Ave. & 11^th St. in Golden closes after 102 years.

January 5, 2017

Golden Transcript publishes its 11,200th edition.

January 10, 2017

100th anniversary of Buffalo Bill’s death.

March 9, 2017

Fire on South Table Mountain grows to 75 acres; pre-evacuations ordered and power knocked out to part of Golden.

May 8, 2017

Historic hailstorm pelts Golden, Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Westminster, and surrounding areas; costs exceed $1.4 billion.

August 2017

Lockheed Martin begins construction of $350 million satellite production facility at Waterton Canyon.

October 1, 2017

"Linking Lookout," a $25 million construction project at the interchange of US 6 and 19th St., is completed, linking downtown Golden with the communities at the base of Lookout Mountain.

October 7, 2017

Man dies from rattlesnake bite while hiking Mt. Galbraith.

November 7, 2017

Roy Halladay, former Major League Baseball player and 1995 Arvada West High School graduate, dies when his single-engine plane crashes into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast.

December 7, 2017

Golden High School student falls down 100-ft. mine shaft; breaks leg.

December 22, 2017

100th anniversary of the death of Mother Cabrini.

2018

• 100th anniversaries of Great Flu Epidemic and end of World War I.
• Foothills Art Center at 809 15^th St. in Golden celebrates 50th anniversary.
• The Jefferson Center for Mental Health celebrates its 60th anniversary. The Jefferson Center got its start on April 30, 1958, in the basement of the Jefferson County courthouse.
• Heritage Square Amusement Park permanently closes June 30. Attractions, games and memorabilia are auctioned off in October.
• Hiwan Museum in Evergreen, originally called Camp Neosho, celebrates 100th anniversary.
• Evergreen Mountain Area Historical Society renamed from Jefferson County Historical Society to better reflect its geographical focal area.
• Conifer’s iconic Yellow Barn turns 100 years old.
• Elk Creek’s Octagon and Barn placed on Colorado Preservation Inc.’s (CPI) Endangered Places List.

February 2018

Jeffco Public Schools respond to threats at Arvada West, Dakota Ridge and Columbine high schools in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in which 17 people were killed.

March 2018

Students participate in #Enough National School Walkout to End Gun Violence and county-wide rally.

May 2018

Arapahoe City historical monument stabilized and restored after vandalism in 2016.

June 1, 2018

Bergen Park Church in Evergreen listed on Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.

September 15, 2018

Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge opens on former nuclear weapons plant site; fenced core area remains off-limits due to contamination.

October 13, 2018

William “Bill” Coors, former chairman of the board of Adolph Coors Company and creator of the aluminum can, dies at age 102.

October 16, 2018

Olde Town Portland Loo officially opens for business in Olde Town Arvada. City Council members cut a "ribbon" of toilet paper for the grand opening of the new public restroom.

November 2018

$567 million bond approved by voters to improve Jefferson County R-1 School District facilities.

December 2018

Lockheed Martin announces relocation of portions of Navy missile production to Jefferson County.

December 30, 2018

White Fence Farm restaurant in Lakewood closes after 46 years.

2019

• Colorado School of Mines students win Solar Decathlon AFRICA in Morocco.
• Golden Lions Club installs first female president, Sondra Welsh.
• Golden High School Demons win state lacrosse championship.
• Jefferson County Public Health celebrates 60th anniversary.
• Jeffco Action Center celebrates 50 years.
• Molson Coors Beverage Company moves headquarters from Denver to Chicago.

February 3, 2019

• Nearly 1,000 golden retrievers and their owners celebrate International Golden Retriever Day in Golden.
• Arvada Police featured in Super Bowl commercial.

March 13, 2019

“Bomb Cyclone” hits Colorado; winds reach 90 mph at Denver International Airport.

April 11, 2019

School of Mines celebrates Marv Kay Day, celebrating Kay’s many contributions to the school and community.

April 16–17, 2019

Florida woman obsessed with 1999 Columbine shootings sparks manhunt, closing Denver-area schools.

April 20, 2019

20th anniversary remembrance of Columbine High School shootings at Clement Park.

April 26, 2019

RTD G Line commuter rail opens from Union Station in Denver to Arvada and Wheat Ridge.

June 2019

• Golden Grizzlies youth baseball team competes in Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament.
• Lakewood and Wheat Ridge celebrate 50th anniversaries.
• Coors employees rescue woman from freezing Clear Creek waters.
• Vietnam War Memorial replica exhibited in Arvada.

September 28, 2019

Volunteers clean 13-mile stretch of Clear Creek Canyon Park for National Public Lands Day.

November 2019

Jefferson County Open Space and City of Boulder Open Space finalize acquisition of 425-acre Lippincott Ranch.

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2020

• Jeffco Sheriff’s Office begins early release of certain low-risk prisoners due to budget cuts.
• COVID-19 impacts all aspects of life: sports, graduations, dining, shopping, voting, and church attendance.
• First Presbyterian Church of Golden marks 150th anniversary.

February 2020

Evergreen elects Whitman the Newfoundland as its first dog mayor; Chuk the chocolate lab elected deputy mayor.

March 2020

• Jeffco sees its first case of COVID‑19 March 10 when a man in his '50s became the first in the county to test positive.
• All jury trials in the 1st Judicial District postponed to later in the year due to COVID‑19.
• All Jefferson County Public Libraries close until further notice, even the book drops.
• School of Mines classes moved online for remainder of spring semester. Students living on campus told to leave.
• Jeffco Public Schools transition to remote learning due to COVID‑19, as does Red Rocks Community College.
• Jefferson County Public Health issues a stay at home order.
• County offices close due to the world‑wide COVID‑19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Employees required to work from home.

March 26, 2020

“Stay at Home” order (referred to as “Lockdown”) begins; all non-critical businesses close.

Spring 2020

Grocery stores experience shortages of toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and flour.

April 26, 2020

Statewide “Safer at Home” order allows some businesses to reopen with restrictions.

May 25, 2020

George Floyd protests spread nationally; peaceful demonstrations held in Arvada, Lakewood, Golden, and Evergreen.

June 1, 2020

Jefferson County moves to a 4-day work week as COVID-19 restrictions lift.

June 6, 2020

“Deracho” severe thunderstorm hits Front Range; 78 mph gust recorded at Denver International Airport.

June 7, 2020

March for Black Lives held in Golden.

Summer 2020

• All Red Rocks Amphitheater concerts canceled.
• Golden’s Buffalo Bill Days canceled for first time due to COVID-19.

July 16, 2020

Colorado Governor Jared Polis issues statewide mask order, requiring people to wear masks in public.

September 20, 2020

Arvada United Methodist Church marks 150th anniversary.

October 2020

Olde Town Arvada water tower turns 110 years old.

October 7, 2020

Gazebo in Jeffco Courage Garden burned by arsonists.

November 3, 2020

All-Democrat Board of County Commissioners elected — first time in 135 years.

November 22, 2020

Free COVID-19 testing site opens at Jeffco Fairgrounds, offering 2000 tests per day.

December 2020

COVID vaccine distribution begins for healthcare workers, first responders and senior citizens.

December 1, 2020

Arvada celebrates 150th anniversary of incorporation.

2021

COVID-19 continues affecting everyday life in Jefferson County.

January 6, 2021

Insurrection at U.S. Capitol; twelve Coloradans arrested on federal charges.

April 6, 2021

Casa Bonita restaurant in Lakewood files for bankruptcy after year-long COVID closure.

June 2021

Jeffco Commissioners proclaim June as Pride Month and June 15^th as Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

June 21, 2021

Shooting in Olde Town Arvada kills suspect, John Hurley, and Officer Gordon Beesley.

June 30, 2021

Ribbon-cutting for new gazebo in Jeffco Courage Garden; replaces one burned in October 2020.

July 1–5, 2021

WWII Flying Legends Victory Tour stops at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.

August 2021

Casa Bonita purchased by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park animated sitcom creators.

December 30, 2021

Marshall Fire burns 6,400 acres, destroys 1,000+ homes and businesses; two deaths, 35,000 evacuated.

2022

• Historic Lincoln Hills resort celebrates 100th anniversary.
• Sculpture Walk at Colfax & Wadsworth completed.
• Jeffco Board of Education votes to close 16 elementary schools.
• Jefferson County adopts first Climate Action Plan.

January 12, 2022

Denver-area King Soopers employees go on strike.

July 12, 2022

Lightning sparks Snow Creek Fire near Morrison, burns 2 acres.

August 2022

Arvada City Council declares Arvada Historical Society Month for 50th anniversary.

September 11, 2022

Arvada police officer Dillon Vakoff, 27, killed in line of duty.

November 8, 2022

Regina Marinelli elected Jeffco’s first female sheriff.

December 22, 2022

75-degree temperature swing in 18 hours; −24°F recorded with −42°F wind chill.

2023

• Colorado businesses required to charge 10¢ for bags starting Jan. 1; plastic and Styrofoam banned starting 2024.
• Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 turns 50 years old.

February 13, 2023

Sheriff’s K9 Graffit killed in line of duty; Eduardo Romero sentenced to 12 years.

March 1, 2023

Wine sales allowed in grocery and convenience stores in Colorado.

March 6, 2023

Vice President Kamala Harris visits Arvada to speak on climate crisis.

May 11, 2023

World Health Organization declares COVID-19 Public Health Emergency over.

June 2023

Casa Bonita reopens in Lakewood.

September 2023

Mount Evans renamed Mount Blue Sky by U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

October 2023

Bandimere Speedway permanently closes after 65 years.

2024

Wheat Ridge inducted into All-America City Hall of Fame.

March 13–15, 2024

Heavy snowstorm dumps 27.5 inches on Golden, ninth-largest in history.

June 7, 2024

Small plane crashes into Arvada front yard.

July 30–August 8, 2024

Quarry Fire near Ken Caryl burns 472 acres; hundreds evacuated; arson investigated.

August 3, 2024

• Morrison celebrates 150th anniversary.
• Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital opens in new facility.

August 9, 2024

Lightning ignites Goltra Fire near tunnel 1 in Clear Creek Canyon.

2025

• Arvada Center celebrates 50 years.
• Arvada High School celebrates 125th anniversary.
• 100th annual Harvest Festival held in Olde Town Arvada.
• Evergreen celebrates 150th anniversary.
• Jefferson County Economic Development Corporation celebrates 70th anniversary.
• The Fort Heritage Program established by Holly Arnold Kinney absorbs Tesoro Cultural Center programming.

February 16, 2025

Anne Marie Hochhalter, victim of 1999 Columbine shootings, dies; death toll rises to 14.

May 2025

Buffalo Park School relocates to Marshdale Park in Evergreen.

September 2025

Lookout Mountain youth detention center in Golden closes due to safety and staffing issues.

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