Sifting through the archive collections in the Old Post Office at the Historical Park, I find myself again wishing donors who had good hearts and insight into local history had taken a few extra moments to record some details that would add provenance before donating. Scrapbooks by the dozens contain a plethora of interesting information.
Honestly, a recent dive into the origins of Valentine’s Day soon became a slog through a mass of conflicting historical theories, originating with pagan ritual and Roman law versus the Catholic Church, then further amalgamated by legend and popularized by marketing. Western civilization came to observe Saint Valentine’s feast day on Feb. 14, which coincides
With the arrival of each new year, the Historical Society hosts one of my favorite events: the Historical Fashion Show and Tea Party. It’s just ahead on Saturday, Jan. 14, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Baugh House. Past gatherings have featured an array of fashions from mid-1800s prairie chic, to slick bowler-topped
Amidst all the frustrations of a constant need to organize and preserve, workers in the Old Post Office at the Historical Park occasionally delight in a real find. Last week researchers came upon two bound volumes (1912-14) of The Wheat Ridge News, a newspaper published by local luminary Samuel Johnson. Paging through the volumes, I
Curiously, celery has a proud heritage in the Wheat Ridge area. Long ago, after I bought my first house, I could hardly wait to plant a garden. I tilled a 30-by-20-foot plot and planted all the standard vegetables. While seed shopping I had encountered a six-pack of celery, a novelty to me. I put forth
“An apple a day …” Multiply that one apple by hundreds, and you have a beginning vision of the Cider Day Festival, the annual Historical Society’s celebration of “All Things Apple.” Scheduled for Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Historical Park (4601 Robb St.), the biggest draw is, of course, the
I’ve had at least one dog, sometimes more, for most of my life. I love ‘em. Dogs possess such dedication and have interesting, sometimes quirky, personalities. I had a golden retriever once that I could send into my house to check each room and make sure it was safe before I entered; that’s an important
Volunteers are busily preparing the Baugh House for the annual Heritage Day festivities on Saturday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., celebrating the colorful history of the storied farmhouse with an ice-cream social and antique quilt show. Originally a log cabin (still evident inside the structure), the house has been through its share
If you traveled West 44th Avenue the afternoon of Saturday, May 25, you may have seen some sort of shindig at the Baugh House on the corner of 44th and Robb Street. It probably looked like a Historical Society event, common on Saturdays. WRHS hosted the event, but its purpose extended far beyond typical Baugh
The Grand Opening of the re-staged Johnson Cabin in Wheat Ridge’s Historical Park was a huge success at the Second Saturday May Festival. Visitors got the first glimpse into a building with an unusual and interesting history. It’s staged to provide a peek into the daily existence of a family newly arrived from the East
By all accounts, this Second Saturday May Festival at the Wheat Ridge Historical Park (4610 Robb St.), scheduled for May 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be one for the history books. Not only will we welcome well-loved standards like maypole dancing (at 11 a.m. and again at 1 p.m.), games, live music,
All things considered, Wheat Ridge claims relatively little of 30-mile-long Wadsworth Boulevard; however, right now, those two miles are truly the bane of our existence. I try to make good use of Teller and Pierce to the east; I even cut over to Sheridan when I have to engage in some serious north-bound travel. I
As a retired schoolteacher, I’m continually fascinated by early public education. Mostly, it’s made me feel lucky to have taught in these modern times – no emptying the coal scuttle daily or whittling nibs for the next day’s lessons. Recently, I had occasion during one of the blizzards to curl up with a good book,
As Valentine’s Day approaches and omicron infections continue to wane (we hope!), the Historical Society plans to hold its February Valentine Second Saturday Social on Feb. 12, two days ahead of the actual holiday. That should allow plenty of time to indulge in the tradition of crafting homemade Valentines instead of dashing to Walgreens for
As the Neighborhood Gazette went to press, excitement was mounting for the Wheat Ridge Historical Society’s first Second Saturday Social of 2022, “High Tea on the Prairie and Historical Fashion Show” at the Baugh House, set for Jan. 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Society has some real pros when it comes to
One of the most vivid New Year’s memories from my childhood is of my father standing at the kitchen sink, eating leftover raw oysters right out of the container while my mother stirred the rest into the milk-based stew steaming on the stove. We always had oyster stew once a year on New Year’s Day,
Drive along 38th Avenue past the north border of SCL Lutheran Medical Center campus and you can’t help but notice the lovely Lutheran Chapel. Designed by master architect Frank W. Frewen and now part of the older face of the campus, it juts out past the other buildings, as if to proclaim its importance and
A literature professor I had in college once asked the class if anyone knew why Edgar Allen Poe was so enamored of beautiful dead women. His thoughts on the matter were chilling. Poe’s mother was a young single parent who suffered from tuberculosis. As the disease overtook Eliza Poe, she could no longer work as
Once upon a time back in the 1900s, folks could support local community hospitals and really get behind efforts to expand and improve services. Those were halcyon days when the Blue House tea room flourished. It was the last major repurposing of the lovely old farm house…so far. Had it not been for Lutheran Hospital
Ask many adults who grew up in the Wheat Ridge area about the Blue House, and they will regale you with joyful memories of meals with their elders in the charming “Blue House Tea Room and Consignment Shoppe” in the large farm house located west of the main entrance to the SCL Lutheran campus on
I don’t know about you, but I got downright creaky during the last year or so, both physically and mentally. From what I read, I’m not alone. Similar changes afflicted millions of Americans in varying degrees. How to get rid of those five to 10 extra pounds and recurring brain fog are much-discussed issues these
No one seems to know exactly who built the sod house at the north end of the Wheat Ridge Historical Park. To passersby it looks like a modest one-story stucco home surrounded by flowerbeds with a handsome blue spruce in the yard. Earliest records indicate that the Federal government granted the plot of land to
