As a cooperative, United Power serves at least part of nearly 20 different communities across Colorado’s Front Range and two mountain canyons. While all have a unique story to tell, perhaps few are more unique the town of Lochbuie, located along Interstate 76 just northeast of Brighton. Some might even call its story quirky. When Bim and Art Eppinger purchased the small plot of land that is now downtown Lochbuie in 1960, their plan was simple. Across Colorado, mobile home owners were paying high rents for small plots of land to live on. The Eppingers’ plan would divide the purchased land into lots and sell it to would-be residents as their own property. With 500 initial lots available, the Eppingers already had a name for their innovative city – Spacious Living, which eventually became Space City. Within only a few years, nearly every lot would be spoken for. In the early years of the town, there was no water, sewer or electricity. To get electricity, residents had to plug into a single pole shared by other residents, and water had to be carried in from a singular well. In 1963, Public Service Company of Colorado (now Xcel Energy) piped in natural gas lines. The town incorporated in 1974 to address its growing sewer problem. Early residents each owned their own septic tanks, which were eventually condemned for being too close together. In order to receive government funding to build a sewage system, the town needed to be incorporated. Around that time, Bim Eppinger sold out of his share and the town was officially renamed Lochbuie, after a town by a similar name in Scotland. Despite its quirky and innovative beginnings, Lochbuie has grown quickly. In the 1980s, the town added the subdivisions Lochwood and Lochwood Farms more than doubling the town’s size. Today, more than 6,000 people live in Lochbuie.

Preserving an Agricultural Heritage

Separating the growing city of Brighton from the traffic jammed roads and towering buildings of downtown Denver is an open space buffer consisting mainly of historic farmlands. The farmlands, some once slotted for development, remain today due in large to a joint effort by the City of Brighton and Adams County to preserve the city’s proud agricultural heritage. Many years ago, long existing farms in the Brighton area were responsible for growing much of the produce sold at Denver-area markets – from local farmers markets to brick and mortar stores like Safeway and King Soopers. During its height, trains would transport Brighton-grown produce across the country. By the time the Hughes Station railroad arrived in 1871, Brighton was already an established farming community. The area’s first irrigation ditch, Brantner Ditch, was filed for in 1860. Its second, the Fulton Ditch, was dug just five years later. The crop of the time, sugar beets, drove agricultural-based industrialization across Colorado. At one time, more than a dozen processing plants existed in the state. In the early 1900s, Brighton and Great Western Sugar Company agreed to build a plant outside of town. When the plant opened in 1917, it became the company’s showcase operation, largely as a result of its proximity to Denver and the railroad. Sugar beet farming was a labor intensive process, and when the plant closed in the late 1970s, many laborers found themselves unemployed. Although Amalgamated Sugar Company purchased the factory in 1985, it did not process sugar and left many buildings vacant. The loss of the plant signaled a change in local crop production to less labor intensive crops. Farmers also led the effort to recruit new industry that would provide employment opportunities to laborers between harvests. In 1995, Denver opened Denver International Airport on a parcel of land northeast of downtown. Now more accessible, the more affordable communities of Brighton and north Commerce City became attractive locations for new families. Since 2000, Brighton’s population has nearly doubled, bolstered by the expansion of E-470, Denver’s intercity toll road, just south of Brighton. As growth continued, developers offered a premium for lands previously reserved for farming. For many, it became more lucrative to sell and retire than continue operating. Hundreds of acres of lush farmland were quickly converted to housing and commercial development, pushing them to buy or lease land farther north toward Greeley. Fearing the loss of its identity as an agricultural community, the City of Brighton and Adams County stepped in. What began as the purchase and lease of hundreds of acres of farmland eventually resulted in The District Plan. The District Plan not only seeks to ensure historic farmlands are preserved, but also enrich the city’s image as a commerce center for agriculture and support agritourism near the communities served. Most small and growing communities surrounding major metropolitan areas once had roots in agriculture, but many have embraced the rapid growth and development that comes with a location near such cities. Rather than settle for the loss of productive farmland and its link to an agricultural heritage, Brighton, located just 20 miles from downtown Denver, instead chose to fight to preserve that identity.

Keeping a Long Tradition Alive

While residential and commercial development threatened Brighton farmland, Fort Lupton, a small community between Brighton and Greeley, faced a different industrial encroachment – gravel mining. Fort Lupton’s location near the South Platte River and several major highways made it an attractive location for industrial gravel mining. As gravel mining chipped away at available farmland, Fort Lupton shifted from a small farming town to a bedroom community for those looking for the quiet solitude of a small city with relative access to the benefits of living near a major city. The original story of Fort Lupton, however, is one traced by the evolution of its famous festival at the end of each summer, currently called Trapper Days. The current festival is a patchwork of the various elements that celebrate the town’s rich history dating back nearly 200 years to the founding of Fort Lancaster in the early 1800s, named for its builder, Lancaster Lupton. While the name is reminiscent of the town’s early history as a trading post for animal skins with other trappers and local Indian tribes, the festival actually began much later as something entirely different. Originally named Tomato Days, the festival was put on by O.E. Frinks, owner of a local cannery, at the end of each summer to celebrate the conclusion of the tomato harvest. His cannery employed many in the town and surrounding area. When the cannery shut down, the festival continued under a new name – Pioneer Days. Pioneer Days later changed to Rendezvous Days before eventually settling on Trapper Days, which has been celebrated for more than 40 years. Each year Fort Lupton attracts thousands of visitors to its three-day festival celebrating the city’s early pioneers while educating them about its proud history. Lupton’s fort was only in service for a few years and sat vacant for many more before the early settlers of Fort Lupton arrived in the late 1800s. Those early years of settlement were quite difficult, and the fort provided a safety net. “In later years of the original fort’s history, it became a rest stop for travelers and a safe place from Indian raids,” said DebraRay Thompson, director of the Fort Lupton City Museum. “Many early travelers came to know the place as Eden.” Those settlers who stayed at the fort were able to craft a grand vision, for the time, into a reality. Wanting to attract a railroad, W.G. Winborn platted the historic downtown a short distance from the fort and nearby river. It became a lively downtown, and many of those early structures still exist today, a dedication to and reminder of the hard work put into the city by its founders.

In the fall of 1958, nearly 200 people gathered in the Keenesburg school auditorium not to decide the future of the town, but of a road that could make or break it. A twenty-mile stretch of road from Hudson to Roggen on the renovated U.S. Highway 6 that would eventually become Interstate 76 was under debate. It has been described as the most important meeting in town history. Like many small towns along the plains in Colorado, the Town of Keenesburg was originally platted as a train depot. As transportation moved away from trains, however, rural communities became more reliant on highways. The only major highway with convenient access to Keenesburg was an extension of U.S. Highway 6, allowing local businesses to sprout up along it and serve travelers. New legislation passed in 1956 targeted U.S. Highway 6 for conversion into an interstate highway. Although the state had promised to route the new highway as closely to town as possible, the proposed route ultimately ran nearly two miles north. Fearing the new route could threaten the town’s long-term viability, the Chamber of Commerce called a public hearing to argue the merits of an alternate route closer to town. Prominent residents took turns elaborating on the town’s highway dependability. The meeting resembled a well-rehearsed courtroom drama with more than 20 different testimonies that went well into the night. Chamber president Harry Pippin served as mediator, keeping peace and order. If the road moved so that highway traffic could not see businesses, and the services they offer, insurance agent Philip Bowles argued, “…then these businesses have just about as much chance as the gentleman who winked at the blond in the dark.” It was doubtful new businesses would move in to replace the ones that could not continue before them. “Therefore we feel that the very existence of the town depends on the future location of Highway 6,” Bowles said. Due to the frequency of blizzards across the plains at the time, Keenesburg quickly became more than just a pit stop for passersby, however. Convenient access and the presence of a medical clinic made the town a safe haven for stranded travelers. These benefits represented a reasonable argument for the road to be located near Keenesburg instead of bypassing it entirely, attorney David Miller said. “Human life I think is more important, both economically and in its existence, than simply a road users’ benefit measure,” said Miller. Sometime following the public hearing, the state highway department elected to build near Keenesburg. The aggressive approach those early leaders took potentially saved the town. In the late 1950s, the Chamber of Commerce placed a now famous sign at the entrance to Keenesburg reading, “Home of 500 happy people and a few soreheads.” Though the sign has since been replaced, the wording remains the same, even though the population is incorrect. More than 1,200 people (and perhaps a few more soreheads) will celebrate Keenesburg’s 100th anniversary this summer. Had the highway been built bypassing the town, it might more closely resemble a ghost town than the small rural community it is today.

Colorado Coal Pioneers

At the heart of Commerce City is a piece of American history so significant, it’s impossible to tell the city’s story without it. The Rocky Mountain Arsenal was established in 1942 on 30-square miles northeast of Denver following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Like many small communities along the South Platte River east of Denver, Commerce City had humble beginnings in agriculture as early as the mid-1800s. Though the land had ample access to water resources, there were few trees and no lakes or reservoirs. Through hard work, homesteaders created an area full of successful farms and ranches. Throughout the early 1900s, the area was devoted to wheat fields, dairies and pig farms. Railroads built along the river would later attract large industrial development, and the first refinery was built in the 1930s. At that time, the area was made up of several small neighborhoods, including Adams City, Irondale and Dupont (which would merge to become Commerce Town in 1952). More than 200 families occupied the land east of the city that would encompass the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Japan’s attack thrust the country into World War II, and the United States needed a secure place to develop physical and chemical weapons. The area near Denver was selected because it was far from coastlines and sheltered from enemy aircraft by the Rocky Mountains. It also offered access to major railroads and a large workforce, as well as plenty of water and power supplies. Although not all shared the sentiment, many farmers viewed it as their patriotic duty to surrender land to help win the war. The United States Army would occupy the land until the war’s end, when it was leased to Shell Oil Company. Through 1985, Shell used the land to develop agricultural chemicals. The manufacturing process resulted in unintended contamination of the soil and water in and outside the arsenal. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service got involved when a contractor discovered endangered bald eagles roosting on the contaminated site in 1986. However, it was Jean Klein, then president of South Adams County Water and Sanitation, who initiated the push to clean and preserve the area, with support from Commerce City, Tri-County Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and a host of other oversight groups. Although outside interest groups made an effort to oppose funding for the cleanup, the residents of Commerce City, who had fully embraced the arsenal and its history, were successful in getting it declared a national Superfund site and eventually reopened as the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. Today, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal is one of the world’s most successful urban wildlife refuges, welcoming more than 350,000 visitors annually and housing more than 330 species of wildlife, including raptors, migrating songbirds, bison, deer, and the recently introduced endangered black-footed ferret. Had it not been for the efforts of the early homesteaders to develop the land suitable for farming and raising a family, it’s unlikely the land would have become as welcoming for wildlife as it is today. Nearly 100 years later, their legacies live on both as a piece of history and a refuge for the area’s precious wildlife. “I call it the miracle on the prairie,” said Reba Droter, who was actively involved in the cleanup and establishment of the refuge. “It’s a little piece of untouched land where you can see the beauty of the prairie and the mountains just as the settlers did. If it hadn’t been for the arsenal, this land would be industrialized Denver, and the beauty would be lost.”