dearfield, colorado

[fizzgig]

i'd heard of dearfield before, but it popped up on my facebook page again this week and i decided to take a drive out there. it's east of greeley and i overshot it so far that i wound up on 76 (cdot needs to put some signs up that the interchange with 34 is coming up. i didn't even realize i was near the interstate until i was on it).





tromped around inside the chain link fence for these (oogy grasshoppers everywhere and i wore sandals)





i think this was the general store, husband thinks it was the post office



snakes and unsound structures? i can deal with that. hantavirus? no thank you.



and man, oh man, the clouds on the plains

[MADem]

1. What a wonderful adventure! Here is a link you might enjoy....

http://www.weldcounty150.org/HistoryofWeldCountyTowns/Dearfield.html

...In 1920, Dearfield farmers produced the colony’s largest crop, one third more than in the previous year.

By 1921, sixty to seventy families lived in Dearfield. Its net worth that year was appraised at $1,075,000.
In 1921, fifteen thousand of the community’s 20,000 total farm acres were under cultivation and the growing town added two churches and a gas station.
Grain, both Wheat and Corn (seen here), were Dearfield’s Most Important Cash Crops. Photo Source: Denver Public Library.
Many Dearfield colonists came from Denver, others from as far away as Missouri, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Virginia.

Aside from farming, people worked in retail businesses and truck gardening.
Hosting week-end dances for visitors from Denver were important social occasions and a source of revenue for Dearfield community members.

Many people from Denver’s African-American community would travel to Dearfield on those week-ends by car and by train, there being a train station only a mile and a half away at another nearby small community. ....

I think you are right about that building--apparently Dearfield residents used the post office from the next town over:

[fizzgig]

2. great link

the post office in masters, just a tick up the road, was a landmark on google maps, so that's what lead me to my conclusion.

[fizzgig]

3. and the more i think about it, the more i appreciate their drive from denver

it's quite the hump on that highway as it is and that's going 70. that drive had to be close to three hours back then.

[MADem]

4. They must have thrown some HELLA parties!!! nt

[kaiden]

5. I am sure going to miss those expansive Colorado skies when we move.

Upstate NY, here we come. but

[mountain grammy]

6. One of the first places I visited when I moved to Colorado over 30

years ago because a close friend told me about the place. I'm an atheist, but found it to be quite spiritual. I've never been back. Time for another visit.. thanks for the post.

[Gumboot]

7. Here's Dearfield today:

https://goo.gl/maps/h9o5e

Blink and you'd miss it.

Many thanks for a great post and some wonderful photos!