50 Years Ago
The June 3, 1975 Golden Transcript announced that the tourist booth had opened for the season. This modest structure stood at 10th and Washington from the 1970s through the early 1990s and served as Golden's Welcome Center.
That corner served many purposes over the years. Sanborn Insurance Maps show the site being occupied by a Flour & Feed Store (1886), “Oil Etc.” (1890), a Meat Market (1895), Grocery Store (1906 and 1911) and finally a blacksmith shop (on the 1919 map).
Ed Furniss set up his blacksmithing business at that location in 1914. Beginning in 1922 on, he also operated a filling station on the site. Mr. Furniss retired in 1945, died in 1951 at the age of 80, and is buried in the Golden Cemetery.
Another blacksmith–Fred Bochatey–leased the shop beginning in 1945. Mr. Bochatey had been teaching blacksmithing at the Industrial School for several years. He died in 1949 at the age of 65 (and is also buried in the Golden Cemetery).
The old building was razed and in 1951 a Frontier gas station opened on that corner. The Golden Civic Foundation acquired the property in 1973, with plans to turn it into a park. They were unable to raise enough money to pay off the purchase and landscape the property, so they sold it to the City. In 1987, plans to build a new City Hall on that corner were defeated by the voters, so the tourist booth continued to operate there. The rest of the property served as a parking lot.
In 1995, a community-wide effort began to raise funds for a permanent visitors center and home for the Golden Chamber. The funds were raised, and the Golden Welcome Center was built in 1997.
It's been a good addition to the community: the volunteers greet thousands of visitors every year, the board room is in constant demand for meetings, and the patio is one of the prettiest places in town to hold a party.
