31 Years Ago
Clear Creek Ranch Living History Park Opens
The Clear Creek Ranch Living History Park will participate in the Old Golden Christmas Candlelight Walk Friday, Dec. 2. This will be the first public event at the site on 11th Street.
The November 25, 1994 Golden Transcript announced that our new history park would officially open on December 2nd, for the Candlelight Walk. The project had been a long time in the making.
The creek bed used to be much wider, with only a narrow strip of land between 11th Street and the drop-off down to the creek. In 1970, local businessman Cliff Evans began bringing in landfill, eventually creating a few acres of "new" land at street level. He didn't say what he planned to do with the property, but there were rumors that he planned to build apartments along the Creek.
After this, nothing happened for several years. The land remained unoccupied and overgrown with weeds. It became a popular dumping ground for unwanted junk. Ten years passed.
In 1980, the City decided they wanted to build parks and trails along the Creek. They offered Evans $596,000 for the land, but he refused. In 1982, they condemned the land. Evans took them to court, saying that the land was worth $1.13 million. The court agreed. Evans got his money (but he had wanted his land) and there were hard feelings on both sides.
Several more years passed before the Golden Landmarks Association, working with the City, began developing a living history park. The public's first experience at the park would be December 2, 1994.
The Pearce homestead cabin, moved to the site this past summer and is now nearly restored, will host Father Christmas in the cabin's living room with its freshly whitewashed walls. And, also, helping to hand out candy canes will be Buffalo Bill Cody.
Volunteers hope to have the two large pine trees beside the cabins alight with sprinkles of wheat lights and seed decorations for a Christmas for the birds.
Members of the Golden Landmarks Association will help serve coffee, cowboys beans, doughnut holes and hot chocolate. There will be a large bonfire out on the "range" just east of the cabin.
