The "Modern" Era
Compiled by Vicki Moran, see sources.
Between the time of the homesteaders and the mid-1940s little changed in the canyon. Then, toward the end of World War II, people came to the canyon to start families away from the cities and the growing suburbs. These bold new residents banded together to instigate needed services for the canyon. In 1947, after a restaurant near the site of the old Coal Creek Inn burned to the ground, residents formed the Coal Creek Canyon Improvement Association (for male property owners only) with the primary goal of establishing a volunteer fire department. While the men were busy making plans for the fire department, the women formed the Coal Creek Women's Auxiliary (the name soon changed to the Coal Creek Women's Club) in 1949.
Construction of the Community Hall began when Henry Zeller donated land and John and Marie Smethills loaned money to pay for materials. The Hall was built with all volunteer labor. The Women's Club held well-attended fundraisers and raised money toward the completion of the Hall. Their efforts paid for drilling the well, adding the roof, and equipping the kitchen. When the Hall opened, it became the center for community activities, including the popular square dances.
In 1949 the first firehouse was built—a dugout in the side of the hill on the north side of Highway 72 and Crescent Park Road—on land donated by A. G. Seaver. The fire engine, a surplus Army Command car, was donated by the State Forestry Department, and more equipment, including an ambulance, was purchased through fundraising and donations.
CCCIA members worked with the Rural Electric Association (REA) to run lines for electricity and work was completed in 1947.
In the early 1950s, Mountain States Telephone ran lines up the canyon for telephone service with party lines of eight. The area had a GLendale 8 exchange, later known as 458. This was changed to 642 in 1963. In 1958 the telephone system was upgraded to dial up and private lines.
The ever-active CCCIA members worked with the Boulder, Jefferson, and Gilpin counties to get Coal Creek Canyon Road paved. The mouth of the canyon to Twin Spruce Road was paved in 1952; up to Wondervu in 1955, on to Pinecliffe in 1956, and all the way to Highway 119 in 1958. Property owners along the road donated rights-of-way and it was designated State Highway 72.
Mail service came to the canyon in 1952. Central mailboxes were first placed at three locales: at the mouth of the canyon, in the Evan's Store at the corner of Coal Creek Canyon and Twin Spruce Roads, and at Crescent Landing. At first mail was delivered once a week; deliveries increased to three times a week, then daily, and eventually the mail was delivered closer to individual properties.
In 1951, the close proximity of the Dow Chemical Plant (later known as Rocky Flats) and the work on Gross Reservoir brought more people to the canyon and the population increased to about 500.
In 1957, a 5-foot accumulation of spring snow caused the roof of the original dugout firehouse to collapse. Canyon organizations continued fundraising efforts and managed to replace the firehouse in 1959. Fundraising couldn't keep up with increased costs and population, so in August 1959, a public hearing was held to establish a tax district for the fire department. The issue passed, and the district lines were drawn to include the three counties of the canyon: Jefferson, Boulder, and Gilpin.
The canyon was zoned for development in 1948, and the platting of the first development, Hilltop, by Rudi Kuhlmann was begun. These first homes were summer cabins. Kuhlmann, his wife Elsie, and son-in-law Lionel Brook, platted Georgian Woods and Sylvan Heights in 1952; Blue Mountain View, Lillis Lane, and Vonnie Claire Heights in 1953; and Coal Creek Heights in 1961. The roads were named for family members. Burland Ranch was developed by Walter Burke in 1955; and in 1959 Leavitt Booth platted the Blue Mountain subdivision and then Crescent Park in 1965.
Schools
When the canyon population was large enough to warrant a local school, the homesteaders erected a cedar one-room schoolhouse at what is now 10607 Twin Spruce Road. It eventually became a residence and with additions, the schoolhouse became the livingroom of the home at the same address.
A new school was built at 29280 Highway 72 in 1916. It was known as the Columbine School.
In 1935 another school was built at Plainview that was used until 1951 and then children were bused to schools in Golden. The foundation for the Plainview school is still there, as are the foundations of the two outhouses that served the school, the boys' and the girls'. It was reported that the boys' had a bee hive in the hole that made using it hazardous! A teacher took her students a short way out into the flats to picnic within the tepee rings so they could learn first-hand about the Indians that once inhabited the area. The tepee rings are east of the old corral across the road that was once part of the Wilson-Boyle homestead. The land behind the school, up the hill and beyond the railroad tracks, was the Steven's homestead that the Environmental Group helped preserve for Jeffco Open Space.
By the 1960s the population had grown sufficiently to support a local school. On April 24, 1963, Coal Creek Elementary School was dedicated and 63 students comprised the first class. The architect designed the building to suit its mountainous site, with a sloping roof to accommodate the snow and strong winds.
In 1951 Coal Creek Canyon was a growing community with no religious services. A number of residents, including "Uncle" Paul Eisenstein, decided to start a church. A. G. Seaver donated land, and by 1957 this small group had established Chapel in the Hills.
Originally called “Church of the Open Door," Whispering Pines Church was established in 1962." Canyon resident John Smethills donated land near Gross Dam Road for a building.
The First Baptist Church of Coal Creek Canyon was originally located in a small house on Lillis Place. The five-acre parcel on Twin Spruce Road was purchased in 1960. Members of the church saw potential in an old barn on the property and remodeled it to become the present-day church.
Today
Coal Creek Canyon always has been a community where the people make a difference, from homesteading in 1873 to volunteering to work at an event at the community hall in 2010. It's a beautiful and friendly place to live.
