It ends at the brewery.
Photo by Alice Murphy
Click to enlarge
What's happening in Golden today?
Events for Wednesday, Sep. 9th
- All day - CURRENT EXHIBITS AT THE MUSEUMS
- All day - Golden History Tours
- All day - Live Workouts with Community Center Pros
- All day - Golden Sports
- All day - COMMUNITY CENTER UPSTAIRS CLOSURE
- 9-11AM - Golden Startup Coffee
- 9-10:30AM - Golden Walks
- 9:30-10:30AM - Fit and Energize Exercise Class
- 10AM-4PM - Bent Bento Quilt Class
- 10:15-11:15AM - Discovery Play
- 11AM-12PM - Watercolor Studio: Gratis Session
- 1-3PM - Be Bold. Be Free. Paint What You See!
- 1-2:30PM - SPARK! Alzheimer's Association Program
- 3-5PM - Virtual/Call In: Hard Times Writing Workshop
- 3:30-7PM - Beck Venture Center Startup Forum: Intellectual Property Force Fields for your Startup
- 5-8PM - Baby Goat Night
- 5:30PM - Rotary Club Cornhole Tournament
- 5:30-7PM - Contemplative Memoir
- 6-7:30PM - The Early People of Where the Mountains Meet the Plains
- 6PM - Bingo Night
- 6:30-8:30PM - Trivia Night @ Golden Mill
- 6:30PM - Historic Preservation Board Meeting
- 6:30-8PM - Wine, Women, and Wealth (WWW) in Golden
For more information, click the item above or visit the Golden Today Calendar
1-3PM Be Bold. Be Free. Paint What You See! @ Foothills Art Center - Creative Campus
In this 2 session watercolor class, participants will capture what is seen - the scene, the object, or the person in an understandable way. Participants will learn about composition and color, values and abstract shapes, and how to tie all the elements together to create a unique painting. Participants will also explore how to use those elements to communicate the emotion behind the subject matter. Register
This class meets twice, on September 9 and 16.
Location:
Foothills Art Center - Creative Campus
809 15th Street (Map)
1-2:30PM SPARK! Alzheimer's Association Program @ Foothills Art Center - Astor House
SPARK! at Foothills Art Center is a free program designed to make art accessible for people experiencing mild memory loss, early-stage Alzheimer’s, or a related dementia, and their family, friends, and guests. Join a trained facilitator for an engaging afternoon in a welcoming environment. Participants will enjoy an insightful tour and conversation followed by an art activity inspired by the featured artworks. All materials will be provided. Enjoy complimentary refreshments while connecting with fellow attendees during each session. This monthly program is free with advance registration. Register
Location:
Foothills Art Center - Astor House
1133 Arapahoe Street (Map)
3:30-7PM Beck Venture Center Startup Forum: Intellectual Property Force Fields for your Startup @ Beck Venture Center
Startup Forum is a program series designed to empower entrepreneurs with essential knowledge and insights crucial for startup success.
Once you have had “the next big idea”, how do you protect that idea once you’re ready to share it with the world? The Beck Venture Center is thrilled to welcome back Bill Barrett to give us an insight into how IP (Intellectual Property) law works, how to secure what’s yours, and what has changed since he took the stage at our first Startup Forum two years ago (hint, lots!). Free. More information
Location:
Beck Venture Center
1700 Washington Avenue (Map)
6:30PM Historic Preservation Board Meeting @ City Hall Council Chambers
HPB will review a case concerning 403 18th Street (map). The owners plan to make a small addition to the house and replace the 1930 garage with a 1-1/2 story garage. More information
Location:
City Hall Council Chambers
911 10th Street (Map)
The Golden Word - 09/09/26
Live Music for Wednesday, Sep. 9th
- 6-9PM Chris Koltak @ Miners Saloon
- More Live Music
4-8PM Chrispy @ Mountain Toad
5:30-8:30PM Open Mic Night @ Barrels and Bottles
5-8PM Dave Frisk @ Rock Rest Lodge
6PM Open Mic @ Cannonball Creek
6PM Open Mic Night @ Scully's Cafe
For more information, visit the Golden Today Calendar
Golden History: The White Ash Mine Disaster: 9th September, 1889
1890 view of the White Ash, Old Loveland, and the then-recently opened New Loveland coal mines. The New Loveland mine area is now a Golden park with the same name. View north. Photo from Golden History Museum.
Click to enlarge
WHITE ASH MINE DISASTER – 9 SEPTEMBER 1889
By Donna Anderson
This month marks the 137th anniversary of the worst mine disaster in Golden’s history: The White Ash Mine disaster.
Part 1. The White Ash and Old Loveland coal mines
The White Ash coal mine was initially opened in 1874 by John Hodges and expanded in 1877 by R.D. Hall and A.L. Jones. It exploited a vertical coal seam, called the White Ash seam, so-called for its excellent burning properties that produced a clean, white ash. The mine portal was located at the west end of today’s 12th Street, and the vertical mine shaft and connecting horizontal tunnels were about 100 yards to the west.
At its peak, the White Ash Mine produced 50 to 100 tons of coal per day and employed 40 miners working three shifts. Typical of the time, though, the mine was beset with problems. Mining paused in 1879 when a fire broke out at the 280-foot tunnel level. The tunnel was sealed up, with the hopes that a lack of oxygen would smother the fire. In 1885, the Golden Fuel Company entered into a 99-year lease with John Hodges and Charles Welch. From 1885 to 1889, the mine was deepened and had several accidents from falling rock and equipment, as well as bad air from carbon dioxide gas, and fires on the tailing piles. By 1888 the new owners had extended the mine to 720+ feet below ground, making it the deepest coal mine in the State at the time.
In 1889, State Coal Mine Inspector and engineer John McNeil visited the mine several times, finally requiring replacement of unstable timbers, as well as the drilling of a 700+ foot deep escape shaft at the north end of the mine, north of Clear Creek. He also restricted the number of miners to ten for any given shift for safety reasons. The mine owners replaced the rotten timbers and began to plan for an escape shaft in the summer of 1889. In a letter dated July 12, 1889, twelve miners petitioned the State of Colorado to keep the mine open due to hardship. Thus operations continued without the escape shaft.
Meanwhile, the “old” Loveland, aka Black Diamond, Mine was about 1960 feet north of the White Ash Mine, across Clear Creek and along the same coal seam as that of the White Ash Mine. The old Loveland Mine had been abandoned in 1879 due to suffocating inert gas, carbon dioxide or “black damp”, at its (lowest) 250-foot level. The abandoned Loveland shaft and tunnels were left to fill with water from seepage. In 1889, water from the flooded mine was being used as a water source for the steam boilers at the nearby Golden Brick Works, located downhill from the old Loveland Mine.
As it turns out, the lowest flooded tunnel in the Old Loveland Mine was near the exact same level as the 280-foot tunnel in the White Ash Mine, which had been sealed off in 1879 due to the earlier fire. A pillar of rock and coal 70-100 feet thick separated the two tunnels. This separation apparently caused some commentary in McNeil’s inspections, but he and everyone else considered the situation “safe enough.”
To Be Continued…..
Weather
Overnight: Mostly clear. Low around 59, with temperatures rising to around 61 overnight. West northwest wind around 7 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 80. East northeast wind around 7 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Low around 56, with temperatures rising to around 58 overnight. Southwest wind 3 to 7 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly Clear, 56°F
Thursday: Sunny, 87°F
Thursday Night: Mostly Clear, 61°F
Friday: Mostly Sunny, 90°F
Friday Night: Partly Cloudy, 61°F
Saturday: Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 83°F
Saturday Night: Partly Cloudy, 62°F
Sunday: Mostly Sunny, 89°F
Sunday Night: Partly Cloudy, 60°F
Monday: Mostly Sunny, 80°F
Monday Night: Mostly Clear, 57°F
Tuesday: Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms, 81°F
News About Golden - September 9, 2026
News Release: Bill Tumas Named NLR Deputy Laboratory Director of Science and Technology
NLR
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) recently made a key selection to a laboratory leadership position, naming Bill Tumas as deputy laboratory director for Science and Technology... Read more...
Mines professor named 2027 New America Fellow
By Emily Rusch
Colorado School of Mines Newsroom
Lucas Bessire, a professor of anthropology at Colorado School of Mines, has been named a 2027 New America Fellow.
Among the most prestigious honors in public intellectualism, the New America Fellows Program supports writers, journalists, filmmakers and innovators who generate bold ideas that spark new conversations about the most pressing issues of our day... Read more...
Supporters
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Sponsors:
($100/month or $1,175/year)
Buffalo Rose, Buglet Battery, Foothills Art Center, Golden Cultural Alliance, Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, The Golden Mill, Golden Chamber of Commerce, Golden History Tours, Miners Saloon, Clothilde Elingbow, Michael Mason, Earth Sweet Boutique, and Colorado Railroad Museum
Friends:
($50-99.99/month or $575/yr)
Tall Pines Painting, Baby Doe’s Clothing, Paul Haseman, Donna Anderson, Carol & Doug Harwood, Stephanie Painter, Greg Poulos, Ann Norton & Jonathan Storer, Mary & Don Parker, The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Vic DeMaria, Unite Fitness, and Joy Brandt
Supporters:
($25-49.99/month or $285/yr)
Laura King and Scott Wilson, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Forrest Jones, Barry & Liz Bettis, Cheryl & Tom Schweich, in memory of Marjorie Sloan, Chris and Joyce Davell, Forrest Jones, Cynthia Merrill Tamny, Stephen Pero, Meg Van Ness & Steve Kalasz, Steve & Karla Schaefer, Bud Rockhill, Steve Enger, Kristie Brice & Mike Schwartz, The Golden Hotel, Robert Thresher, Tonie Mattox, Steve & M.L. Richardson, Jeremy & Stephanie Keller, AC Development, Golden PT & Pilates, Frank Young & Terre Deegan-Young, Mary Eiberger, and Jonathan Landman & Bonnie Vangilder
Members:
($10-24.99/month or $115/yr)
Brad Miller & Julie Bartos, Holly Thomas, Jim and LouAnne Dale, Ann Pattison, Thomas Hoffman, Carol Abel, Brian Quarnstrom, Sandra Curran, Bobby German and Alison McNally, Kathy Smith, Karen Smith, Carlos & Nancy Bernal, Robert Storrs, Michele Sannes, Elaine Marolla, Dixie Termin & Ron Miller, E Tom Hughes, Crystal M Culbert, Patrick A. Madison, Alice Madison & Jim Kalivas, Deb Goeldner, Christopher Ball, 6th Chair Home Services, Dot & Eric Brownson, Rosemary Coffman, Emeline Paulson, Sandy Schneider, Mark and Cathy Pattridge, Cheryl G Leidich, Jen Rutter, Frani R Bickart, Jennings and Litz, Bill Sedgeley, Nancy Hughes, Justin L Wade, Kathi Eggers, Traci Case, Donna Owen, Karen Oxman, Catherine Skokan, Ross Fraser & KC Gilliland, Lynne Haigh, Elizabeth Hilliard, Kathy Hirons & Jack Markin, Jess & Anthony Monasterio, Heather Duncan, Lee Ann & Pete Horneck, Carol Cameron, Cheryl Williamson, San Daugherty, John and Carol McEncroe, the Golden Welcome Center, the Golden Transcript, Koshare Eagle, Ken and Colleen Krantz, Traci Neuman Lacey, Jo Barber, Jamie Cookinham, Kermit Shields, Meridee Cecil, Colleen & Michael Ramey, Nancy & Pete Torpey, Jax Baker, Simon Maybury, Rose McLaughlin, Cameron Chambers, Joyce Gravina, Patrick Klein, Barb Robie, Richard Caldwell, Sam & Marilyn Baron, Carmen Johnson, Kevin Nichols, Ed & Carol Freza, Laura and Curtis Moore, Ruth Hund, Shelley & Jerry Devitt, Eileen Masterson, Kate Olivier, Amy Korengut, Pam Logan, Clare Shier, Wendy Weiman, Marge Frueh, Edgar Walker, Bivy Beer Bar, Nancy Cooper, Jane & Mike Templeton, Vicki Greivel, Kim McDonough, Carie Chimbel, Peggy Brochtrup, Cindy & Matt Finley, Kelly Fry, Esther Kettering, Tom & Susan Roberts, Vicki Greivel, GoGood Golden, and Sandra Dallas
Followers:
($5-9.99/month or $55/year)
Golden Community Garden, Lora Haimes, Mariane Erickson, J.J. Fraser, Steve Stevens, Vicki Olson, Emily Kurzinski, Peyton Gibson, Sally Berger, Kristen Morgan, Joyce Sutton, Mary Rains, Craig Champlin, Stan Swisher, Bill Way, Chris Toney, Alicia Zimmerman, Tamara Feucht, Golden Brokers, Diane Tiberi, Cathy Larocca, Dave Cole, and Rachael Kenney-Reid
