By Molly Quirk   Golden is one of the oldest towns in Colorado. It was capitol of the Colorado Territory from 1862-1867. It was founded more than 130 years ago! The river that runs through town, Clear Creek, was very important to the early Golden people. It provided water for drinking, electricity, and many other things. Cannon-ball sized stones found in Clear Creek were used to make buildings, porches for houses, and other things. The Armory Building that now houses the coffee shop is built out of these stones. Three separate, smaller cities were combined to make what we now consider Golden:  Arapahoe City, Golden Gate City, and Mt. Vernon City. Many of the people who came here in the early days were miners. There were many different kinds of miners. There were coal miners, who mined the mountains for coal to use for coal burning stoves and heating purposes. There were also some gold miners, but mostly just gold-panners. Golden became popular among the miners because they stopped here to get supplies and to rest before heading higher up into the mountains. The Colorado Territorial Legislature (our government before Colorado became a state) met here in Golden from 1862 - 1867. The legislature used to meet in the Loveland building, which is the building that now houses the Old Capital Grill! (Why do you think they used that name for the restaurant?) Golden's town founders were very mad when Denver was named as the state's permanent capital! The first store in town was The Boston Company, which was founded by George West.  George West later went on to found our town's newspaper, The Golden Transcript.  The Boston Company stood on the land that is now Parfet Park. The Coors brewery is a big part of Golden’s history. It was opened in 1873 by Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler and it was called "The Golden Brewery." In 1880, because of the success of the brewery, Adolph bought out his partner and became the sole owner of the company. The brewery itself used to be just a small stone building, but now it stretches eastward along the Clear Creek Valley! Brewery tours are very popular among Golden visitors. The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) is another very important part of Golden’s history. In 1866, Bishop George M. Randall arrived in the Golden territory and saw a need for a university in the area. He began to make plans for a university that would include a school of mines. The school opened in 1873, to train people who came to the Colorado territory seeking fortunes in mining and CSM was the first college in Colorado. The Astor House Museum was a hotel and a boarding house for miners and other people who came into town. Many of the men who served in the territorial legislature stayed at the Astor House. The reason people liked it so much was because the atmosphere was much like their homes. People cooked for them and took care of them, which they very much appreciated. You may have heard that there used to be a dance hall on top of Castle Rock. This dance hall was a favorite place for people to go to have an evening of fun. The building could hold a pretty good crowd and it also had a great view of Denver. People got up to the dance hall by way of a funicular railway. The railway consisted of two cars that went up the side of the mountain and ran from 13th Street and East Street to the top of Castle Rock. The cars each held 32 passengers. The cost for a one-way ticket up the mountain by way of the railroad was 25 cents and for round trip, 50 cents. Today, the scar from the old funicular track and the steps leading up to the dance hall can still be seen. You can also see where the funicular railway cars were kept when the trains were not running. There was also a funicular railway built on Lookout Mountain. The scar from this railway runs straight up the side, ending at the spot where all the antennas sit today. These railways were not easy to make. They had to be set into steep, rocky slopes and the tracks were very narrow. You can find out a lot more about Golden’s history at the pioneer museum, so come visit us soon!   Early Golden Settlers!   Now that you know so much about Golden's history, are you ready to take the Trivia Challenge?!?   Back to Children's Section