What’s Happening in Golden Today?
This is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The library, City offices, and the post office are closed, and there will be no mail delivery.
6:30-7:15AM Dynamic Circuit (Virtual)
8:30-9:30AM Power Training (Virtual)
10-10:55AM All Level s Yoga (Virtual)
10AM and 1PM Wild West Walking History Tour
10AM and 1PM Wild West Short Tour
Food Drive Announcement
The Golden High School Boys Basketball team is sponsoring their ANNUAL food drive in honor of Jamie Wiggins, a basketball parent and Jeffco teacher who passed away in 2018. All donations support
The Golden High School Boys Basketball team is sponsoring their ANNUAL food drive in honor of Jamie Wiggins, a basketball parent and Jeffco teacher who passed away in 2018. All donations support BGOLDN (formerly the backpack program) assisting Golden area families experiencing food insecurity. They also supply Golden children greatly needed snacks during their school day.
Items may be dropped off at the Golden High main office through January 20th.
Donations and cash contributions also accepted at the main gym entrance on January 18th (GHS vs Wheat Ridge basketball game) between 3:45pm and 8:15 pm.
Thank you very much for your generosity.
Golden History Moment
Yesterday, I went on a hunt for the 1870 census records for Golden. To my surprise, I wasn’t able to get the breakdown from the US Census; instead, they directed me to ancestry.com. I set up a two week trial membership.
It was worth the effort! I was able to see the hand-written documents that recorded every citizen in town, their profession, their place of birth, where their parents were born, the value of their real estate holdings and “personal estate,” and whether they were registered to vote.
Golden’s population was at its lowest point in 1870. There had been 1,014 residents in 1860, during the gold rush. The Civil War (1861-1865) caused many of the early settlers to head back east.
The 1870 census recorded only 587 residents in Golden. The town was very close to extinction. Fortunately, our leading citizen, William A. H. Loveland, was working hard to bring a railroad to Golden. By the end of the year, he had succeeded, and Golden’s population grew substantially after that. The 1880 census recorded 2,730 residents.
Since we’re celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day today, I thought I’d look at the ethnic makeup of 1870 Golden. The census offered fewer options at that time: the options were White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, and Indian. That’s not many options, but it was more than we needed. Every citizen in Golden was either White or Black. Here’s the breakdown:
331 White males | 224 White females | 8 Colored males | 4 Colored females
This means that our population at that time was 98% White and 2% Black.
The 2020 census offered more options:
White alone, percent 90.5%
Black or African American alone, percent 1.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent 0.4%
Asian alone, percent 2.2%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent 0.0%
Two or More Races, percent 3.9%
Hispanic or Latino, percent 9.5%
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent 84.1%
(There’s apparently overlap in these categories, since those numbers add up to 192%.)
At any rate, in honor of our pioneer Black citizens, here are their hand-written 1870 census records:
