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(rshsdepot) Boulder, CO
From The Daily Camera.
Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/
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Pettem: The Union Pacific Depot was the heart of Boulder
May 19, 2005
Before the days of automobiles, large passenger trains steamed into Boulder
every day from as far away as Fort Worth, Texas, and Billings, Mont. Other
trains came from Brighton and pointed east, while the narrow-gauge railroads
hauled silver and gold ore out of the mountains. In the summer of 1890,
after Boulder outgrew three small wooden depots in various parts of town,
the Union Pacific Denver & Gulf Railroad stepped in to build a permanent
depot out of stone. It became a transportation hub and the emotional heart
of the town.
Sandstone for the new depot was hauled in horse-drawn wagons from the
Anderson Quarry (directly west of NCAR) in the foothills west of Boulder. Of
the stone's quality, the editor of the Boulder County Herald stated, "It
will certainly satisfy the most fastidious of Boulder cranks of which no
city can boast or produce a greater supply."
At the time, one lane of the downtown portion of today's Canyon Boulevard
was a railroad track, and the other was a frontage road called Water Street.
Skilled stone masons built Boulder's Union Pacific Depot on the north side
of today's 14th Street and Canyon Boulevard intersection. Boulder residents
formally dedicated their new depot in September 1890. A lively dance band
(surrounded by huge floral displays) entertained local dignitaries before
they toasted one another at a banquet at the nearby Bowen Hotel.
The new depot immediately became the emotional heart of the town. In 1898,
when the Union Pacific Denver & Gulf Railroad merged into the Colorado &
Southern Railroad, it transported Texans who escaped the summer heat while
enjoying their newly opened retreat at Chautauqua Park. Other tourists,
businessmen and college students all were introduced to Boulder when they
stepped off the train.
For the servicemen who fought in the Spanish-American War, the depot was
also the scene of painful separations as well as joyful reunions with their
families. A reporter noted that "the boys were seized, shaken, hugged,
kissed, and cheered until they were wearied and sore."
Throughout the years, politicians and national figures also passed through
Boulder's main depot. In 1900, crowds covered the platform when Theodore
Roosevelt spoke from his private train on a campaign stop for President
William McKinley. In 1899 and 1905, even more enthusiastic residents cheered
the "silver-tongued orator," presidential hopeful William Jennings Bryan,
when he arrived in town for speaking engagements at Chautauqua's Auditorium.
The convenience of the automobile gradually contributed to diminished train
travel, and passenger service to the old stone depot was discontinued in
1951. The following year, the building housed the Travel Center and the
Denver-Boulder Bus Company. Freight trains carrying mail continued to back
in to downtown Boulder until 1957. Tracks west of Broadway were removed in
1959 and those to the east in 1960.
In 1973, the Boulder Jaycees saved the depot from demolition by moving it to
its present location northwest of the intersection of Pearl and 30th
streets. At the time, it was next to the railroad tracks, and the setting
was rural. Today, Crossroads Commons Shopping Center has grown up around it.
The old building has lost its historic context, and its future is uncertain.
Silvia Pettem's history column appears every Thursday in the Daily Camera.
Write her at the Daily Camera, P. O. Box 591, Boulder 80306, or e-mail
pettem_@_earthlink.net.
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1147
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=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org