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