159 Years Ago
The Astor House is one of the oldest buildings in town. Built in 1867, it has been in use–in various capacities–for 159 years. Its current occupant is Foothills Art Center, which built an addition on the back to accommodate some of their art exhibits.
3 Years Ago
In April of 2023, Hassan Najjar (Foothills’ then-Executive Director) was touring the excavation site and found this bottle. It’s an old one! The City Drugstore was located in the Harrison Block from 1883-1924.
D. E. Harrison came to Golden with the gold rush, in 1859. He spent his first summer doing placer mining in Gilpin County, but by the fall of 1859 he moved to Golden. He was 30 years old at the time and sent for his wife (who had remained in Iowa) so they could settle here permanently.
Harrison worked for several years as a builder. His obituary reported that “Some of the brick buildings standing on the Avenue today were built by him.” In 1867 (the same year the Astor House was built), Mr. Harrison built his own downtown business block.
Various businesses occupied the block in the early years. In 1883, Mr. Harrison opened the City Drugstore in the middle storefront of the building. The store continued in that location until Harrison’s death in 1924.
After his death, the store was purchased and renamed “Alpine Drugs.” The new owners doubled the size of the store by expanding into the south storefront.
Today it is home to Creekside Jewelers, Humble House Coffee, and Del's Tonsorial Parlor.
