The 1960s
Blaster, a miniature burro, becomes the mascot of the Colorado School of Mines.
1960
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 Ave. 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. Re-opens in 1971 as Heritage Square.
August 1, 1960
First phase of Westland Shopping Center opens on West Colfax at Miller Street in Lakewood
October 16, 1960
Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport dedicated as Jefferson County Airport
1960-1964
Denver Broncos hold training camps at Colorado School of Mines and stay in the dorms
1961
- Broomfield is incorporated
- Lutheran Hospital, once a tuberculosis sanitorium, opens its doors as a community-based, non-profit, general medical facility in Wheat Ridge. Later becomes Lutheran Medical Center.
- Glenn L. Martin Company merges with American-Marietta Corporation to become Martin Marietta
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
1963
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
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’s Letterman Club
- Mount Lindo cross, created by Francis Van Derbur and the largest lighted cross in the United States, first lit during Easter
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
- First female deputy, Madeline (Miles) Pearce, sworn in by Jefferson County Sheriff Harold Bray
- 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
- 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
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 Richter Scale hits Golden as 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 to be elected to the Golden City Council
- The "Space Age" designed Bonfils-Stanton Regional Library opens adjacent to Villa Italia Mall
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 Ave. 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. Fire considered the most costly industrial accident in United States history at that time.
June 17, 1969
The City of Wheat Ridge is incorporated
June 24, 1969
The City of Lakewood incorporates as Jefferson City, officially changes 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" of snow in Golden on October 3-4, followed by 16" more over the three days of October 10-12