Manuscripts & Personal Papers

Charles O. Moore & Family Papers, 1947-1990

Series 188 (1 Box)

Personal papers of Charles O. Moore, his wife Virginia, and daughter Cherry related to various schools and Mr. Moore’s service to the school board in Jefferson County. View the Finding Aid (PDF) for complete inventory.

Doris Osterwald Papers, 1978-1979

Series 230 (1 Envelope)

Collection contains draft articles and research material prepared by Doris B. Osterwald, Specialist in Residence, Jefferson County Outdoor Education Lab. 

The first draft is titled "Teacher's Guide for the Short Geology Trail, Jefferson County Outdoor Education School," written in 1979 to explain geologic features found along the school's short geology trail. The second draft, "Front Range and Windy Peak Geology," was intended as background information for teachers, and dated circa 1978. Also included is research material related to glacial geology in Montana. 

Doris Ray Beck Osterwald was born March 29, 1921 to Carl Beck, a noted landscape artist,  and Nora Ray, a concert pianist. Doris graduated from East High School in 1939 and majored in geology at the University of Denver, graduating in 1944. She then enlisted in the U.S. Navy WAVEs. She got her Master's Degree at the University of Wyoming, where she met Frank William Osterwald. They were married in 1947. In 1965, she started writing the Mile by Mile Guide book series and created Western Guideways, Ltd. In between writing guidebooks, Doris taught geology at the Jefferson County Outdoor Education Labs near Evergreen and Bailey for seven years. 

Doris Osterwald died March 27, 2014.

The Equine Impact: The Economic Power of the Horse Community by Polly Hearn & Peggy Hunnicutt, 1991

Series 224 (One report)

Report published in 1991 by Hearn Planning Consultants on the results of a study conducted by the Jefferson County Horsemen's Association. The Association elected to conduct a survey of its members in order to learn what activities and needs they had in common and also to document the impact of the horse owner on the economy of Jefferson County. The study commemorated the 25th Anniversary of the Jefferson County Horsemen's Association in 1992. (Photocopy only)

Evergreen, Colorado: A Threshold to the Great Divide, by Mary Helen Crain (1969)

Series 219 (One envelope)

Published, partial manuscript for Mary Helen Crain's book on the history of Evergreen, Colorado and its pioneer families. Contains acknowledgements, foreword, and chapters 1, 2 and 3. Chapter 4 is incomplete and chapters 5-9 are missing as is the index. This manuscript was published by Pruett Publishing Company, of Boulder, CO in 1969. Received from the University of Northern Colorado in 2018.

Forgotten Fifty Niners, by Richard Creswell (2008)

Series 171  (1 Envelope)

Manuscript of article about the location of the Pennsylvania House / homestead of Alden Mowrey. Published in Historically Jeffco Magazine in 2009.

Golden, By Richard Barkley (1992)

Series 174  (1 Envelope)

Unpublished manuscript about Golden, Colorado. Primarily about the development of the smelting, brick, and paper industries in Golden, and especially the Adolph Coors Brewing Company.

Historic Rockland Cemetery & Upper Mount Vernon Canyon, by Stephen G. Engle (2014)

Series 184 (1 Envelope)

Master's degree project about the Historic Rockland Cemetery and the historic and cultural connection the interred of the cemetery have to the development of Upper Mount Vernon Canyon, Colorado, submitted to the University of Denver by Stephen G. Engle, 2014.

The Land Persists: The History of White Ranch Park, by Robert F. Bond (circa 1990)

Series 208

Published manuscript of the history of Jefferson County Open Space's White Ranch Park. Written by Robert F. Bond and published in Historically Jeffco magazine, Summer 1990. Missing page two but magazine is available. From the introduction: This is the story of the land that comprises and adjoins White Ranch Open Space Park northwest of Golden, and some of the people who have lived on the land. Most of the people have roots that go back to the very beginnings of Jefferson County. Many of them are immigrants. All are remarkable for their dedication to hard work and for their perseverance in the face of adversity. (32 pp.)

Meyer Ranch/Midway House Collection, 1870s-2007

Unprocessed collection, but available for use, written description unavailable at this time. Contact Archivist for details.

Collection contains miscellaneous records and photographs from the Norm & Ethel Meyer Family/Midway House property in Conifer recently acquired by Jefferson County Open Space.

Nelson L. Nadeau Papers, 1967-1980s

Mr. Nadeau joined the County's Human Services staff in 1965 as a caseworker and retired as the agency's director in 1997. He was a nationally recognized expert in his field and helped shape social services policy in Colorado and the nation. 

Collection contains primarily the files and minutes of the Architectural Advisory Committee regarding the Justice Center Design Competition in the late 1970s. There are also a small number of papers related to various social services programs and some financial reports.

Unprocessed collection, but available for use. 

Contact Archivist for details.

Pet Memorial Park: A Forgotten Animal Cemetery in Rural Jefferson County by Jason Marmor, 2016

Series 223 (One report)

Self-printed, spiral bound report about an abandoned pet cemetery located on the east side of Indiana Street just north of its intersection with State Highway 72, northeast of Leyden and west of Standley Lake. The cemetery, on slightly less than one acre of land, contains approximately 32 graves - 17 of which have headstones. Contains photographs and maps. The purpose of the report is to provide documentation of a small, unnamed pet cemetery located in a part of the county that is rapidly being transformed by urban development.

Pioneer Child: The Memoirs of Sarah Ann Baker (circa 1938)

Series 181  (1 Envelope)

Sarah Ann (Miller) Baker was born March 26, 1853 in Adams County, Illinois, the youngest daughter of Charles and Mary Miller. The family moved west to Kansas Territory in 1860 and then to Colorado Territory in 1861. They settled on Bear Creek, renting a house not far from the sawmill where Charles found work. A few months later they moved to a home south of Golden City on a property with three lime kilns where Charles burned lime for market. In 1864 the family moved on to Washington Territory. 

These are the memoirs of Sarah's childhood from her first recollection of being held by her grandfather until her marriage at age 19 to Frank Baker. Unpublished manuscript written by Sarah at age 85 (circa 1938) edited and prefaced by her daughter, Helen Baker Reynolds. Note this is a scanned copy only. Original remains with family.

The Plantation: Geophysical Characterization of a Possible Homestead (2001)

Series 210

Report written for the Colorado Historical Society and Jefferson County Open Space in 2001 by Holly Hindle, Simon Payne, Angie Southcott and Amy Walker to help in understanding the remains of a possible homestead site on Open Space property near Centennial Cone. (25 pp.)

The Political Demagogues of Jefferson County: Participating in the Organization of the Jefferson Territorial Government, 1859 by Dennis L. Potter

Series 209

Unpublished and undated manuscript by Dennis L. Potter on the history of the Jefferson Territorial Government.  (22 pp.)  

Use is restricted: Not to be released without permission of author. Please contact Archivist for details.

Pruden and Moore Family Histories, 1891-1985

Series 175 (3 Binders)

Transcript of Jennie Pruden's daily diaries kept from 1891 until her death in 1945. She and her husband Charlie came from Iowa and homesteaded 160 acres in Jefferson County near Plainview in the early 1900s. They also owned and operated the Post Office and store on the Plainview stop of the Moffat Line starting in 1909. Her diaries recount daily pioneer life. Background research and photographs included. Subjects include the Moffat Road, Interurban, Eldorado Resort, Owens Ranch and the Kansas Pacific.

Transcript of oral history recordings with Charles Moore recorded between 1975 and 1985. Describes life on the Eldorado Ranch as a child growing up, life on the farm in Arvada where he lived with his wife and family in the 1940s-1950s, and his involvement in the 1950s consolidation of the rural schools in Jefferson County into the R-1 school district. Also his later years as a member of the Jefferson County School Board in the 1960s-1970s.

Public Education in Lakewood, Colorado at Wadsworth Boulevard & 10th Avenue, by Thomas Sullard (2012)

Series 170  (1 Envelope)

Unpublished manuscript about the history of public school buildings in Lakewood, Colorado with emphasis on those located at 10th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard. 

On one CD with one color copy printed out.  

Recollections of My Life and Reflections on Times and Events During It, by W. J. Howlett (1933)

Series 172  (1 Envelope)

Unpublished manuscript about the life of William J. Howlett, a priest and writer. He describes his childhood in New York and Michigan, recounts his family's wagon journey to Denver along the Platte River in 1865, and his student days in the Seminary. Returning to Colorado, he embarked on mission and parish work under Bishop Joseph Machebeuf, whose biography he later published. This work provides glimpses of the growth of the Colorado Church in the last quarter of the 19th century. 

Note this is a photocopy only. Original on file at the Catholic Register, Fort Worth, Texas.

Rural Education in America: The 20th Century Shift Away From One-Room Schoolhouses to Modernized Public Education in Conifer, Colorado, by Ashley Legg (2015)

Series 211

Unpublished paper on the shift from one-room school houses to modernized public education in Conifer, written by Ashley Legg in 2015 for her history seminar with a copy donated to the Archives. (25 pp.)