What’s Happening in Golden Today?
6:30-7:15AM HIIT (Virtual)
8:30-9:30AM Power Training (Virtual)
10:15-10:45AM Toddler Time @ Golden Library
1-2PM The Friday Tour @ Colorado Railroad Museum
3PM Vaccine, License & Microchip Clinic @ Foothills Animal Shelter
5PM CSM Womens Basketball vs. Fort Lewis @ Lockridge Arena
5-7PM Member Opening – Members’ Show & Power of Process @ Foothills Art Center
7PM CSM Mens Basketball vs. Fort Lewis @ Lockridge Arena
7:30PM The Great American Trailer Park Musical Opens @ Miners Alley Playhouse
There are a few seats left for tonight’s opening night performance!
Live Music
3:45-10:30PM UllrGrass Festival @ Parfet Park
5-8PM Live Music @ Eddy Taproom
7-10PM Howard Dlugasch @ Buffalo Rose (Sky Bar Stage)
7-10PM Jeffrey Dallet @ Morris & Mae
7-10PM Yard Art @ Over Yonder
8PM Paizley Park (A Tribute to Prince) @ Buffalo Rose (main venue)
9PM Karaoke @ Ace Hi Tavern
Golden History Moment
For nearly a century, Golden’s water supply was a subject of constant concern and discussion. Sparkling clean when settlers first arrived in 1859, Clear Creek soon became polluted with effluent from upstream mining operations. The water pumped from the Creek into Golden homes was, at times, muddy, full of chemicals, and bacteriologically questionable.
Our water quality saw a huge improvement in 1904, when we established a “gravity fed” water supply with water piped over several miles from Beaver Brook. That water, which did not have upstream polluters, was called “sparkling clean” and considered “pure and wholesome.”
Unfortunately, in many years Beaver Brook ran low and our reservoir on Lookout Mountain went dry. Sometimes the pipes from the reservoir froze, leaving the town without running water. When that happened, our old pumping station was fired up and we reluctantly turned back to using Clear Creek water.
This cycle finally ended in 1953, when the City built a water treatment plant. The new plant included settling ponds, filters, and chemical water purification, and allowed us to use Clear Creek water and have excellent water quality.
85 Years Ago
The January 27, 1938 Colorado Transcript was providing decidedly mixed messages about the water available from Golden taps. This was 15 years before the water treatment plant was built, and the City was going through one of its frequent pumping-water-from-the-Creek periods.
The Transcript included an article with the headline “Tests Show Golden Water Pure and Safe.” In smaller type below, it added “Boiling Is Suggested By Council Only As Precaution.”
The State Sanitary Engineer had tested the water and pronounced it to be free of contamination, clear, and without odor. Nonetheless,
It has been suggested by the city council, as a matter of precaution, that all water used for drinking and cooking purposes be boiled during the period of the operation of the emergency pumping plant.
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
