Jackson County CO Family History, Genealogy and Towns

TOWNS

Below I have attempted to list all the population places that have been or can be found in Jackson County. Jackson County was not established until 1909 when it was formed in the North Park area of Larimer County. Many places below were memories by the time the county was created, but I will list them here anyway. I have tried to list all places that were mentioned at one time or another during the settlement of this region. Where ever a few people gathered together they would throw up a few buildings and name the place but often these places were gone before the paint had a chance to dry on the town sign. I have tried to give a little information on each place be it only a post office, a railroad siding, a trading center etc., etc. I hope this is useful for those who would like to fill in a little more about an ancestor then just dates and places. I hope the curious can also find something here. I am sure this is not a complete list and would appreciate any input on places that I have left out or information that needs inputting or correcting. So enjoy yourself and please browse around.

Please select the first letter of your desired community:

A | B | C | E | F | G | H | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | V | W | Z |

Ada Spring

This place was found on a 1885 map

Bighorn

This place had a post office from 1898 to 1900.

Bockman Lumber Camp

What the name implies.

Brownlee

This town is at an elevation of 7993 feet (2436 meters) and located about 5 miles north of Walden.

Brocker Place

Located a couple miles northwest of Rand.

Butler

Located at the head of Newcomb Creek. This place had a post office from 1890 to 1911

Canadian

This place was located about 13 miles south of Pinkhampton at the base of the Medicine Bow Range and a station on the wagon road from Larimie, Wyoming to Teller City. It was a crossing run by a Mr. Godfrey on the Canadian River and had a post office from 1883 to 1891.

Coalmont

This town is at an elevation of 8209 feet (2502 meters) and was established in 1911. There was an early strip mining operation close by where the coal was near to the surface. This is probably from where the name was derived. I believe it just recently lost it's post office.

Cowdrey

This town is at an elevation of 7905 feet (2409 meters) and was established in 1882. It received it's name from an early settler, Charles Cowdrey, who built a hotel in the town. In the early years it was a supply station for many mining operations in the vicinity.

Crescent City

It was a small mining camp located just north of Willow Creek Pass. This place was established in the 1870's and had a post office 1880.

Cummings

It was a small mining camp located on the old stage road from Cameron Pass to Teller City along the Michigan River.

Elm's Ranch

This place was established in 1887 when Oscar Elms homesteaded here. It was absorbed by Pearl for mining purposes.

Fort Boettcher

This town is at an elevation of 8324 feet (2537 meters). It is located in the western part of the county in the Park Range mountains.

Gould

This town is at an elevation of 8913 feet (2717 meters) and was officially established in 1936. But many families were already living in the area when the Penfold store was erected in 1928. It received its name from Edward Bradley Gould, who settled a homestead in the area in 1898. It mainly became a lumbering town after the mining near by never brought much work. It also had a Civilian Conservation Corps camp here for a while and a German prisoner of War Camp during World War II. It died when the lumber concern moved to Walden.

Haworth

This place had a post office from 1884 to 1906.

Hebron

This town is at an elevation of 8134 feet (2479 meters). It was established in the early 1880's as an agricultural town and had a post office from 1884 to 1922.

Helena

No information at this time.

Higho

This place was located on the Lone Pine Creek west of Lake John. This place had a post office from 1889 to 1930.

Jack City

This place was a mining camp that came into existence during the early mining boom years. It was located along the Michigan River on the old stage road from Cameron Pass to Teller City.

Kings Canyon

This town is at an elevation of 8390 feet (2557 meters). It was established as an agricultural town and had a post office from 1928 to 1936.

Lake John

Small town on the east side of of Lake John. Found on an 1887 map.

Larand

This town is at an elevation of 8205 feet (2501 meters). It was located about 11 miles north west of Rand and had a post office from 1914 to 1916. It was a stop CW&E rail line.

Lindland

This town is at an elevation of 8655 feet (2638 meters) and yet another agricultural town. It had a post office from 1922 to 1937 and was located north west of Gould on the Michigan River.

Mason

This place was a mining camp that came into existence during the early mining boom years. It was located on the old stage road from Cameron Pass to Teller City. Gould later sprang up at this site.

Michigan City

This place was located along the Michigan River just north of summit of Cameron Pass. It had a post office from 1880 to 1882.

Northgate

This town was at an elevation of 7918 feet (2413 meters). It was established as an agricultural town. It was north of Cowdrey on the CW&E rail line. A post office operated here from 1912 to 1918.

O'Brien

Found on an 1885 map.

Old Homestead

This town is at an elevation of 8763 feet (2671 meters). It is located southwest of Rand on road 125.

Otis

Found on an 1887 map west of Cowdry.

Owl

This place had a post office from 1899 to 1918. It was named for nearby Owl Mountain.

Park City

This was a mining town two and a half miles from Teller. It was a boom town from 1880 to 1884 when the price of silver drastically dropped. It is said a post office was here in 1880.

Paulus

This place had a post office from 1920 to 1933.

Pearl

This town is at an elevation of 8404 feet (2562 meters). The first people here were the brothers, Bob, Bill, Luke Wheeler in 1884. It was established in 1889 and incorporated 25 November 1901. It was named for the wife of Luke Wheeler who was also the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Burnett who at one time owned or invested in several mines in the vicinity. It was in the northern end of North Park by the Wyoming border. In 1900 copper was discovered in the area and soon five mines were operating. A smelter was built but only ran one day because the cost of transporting the raw materials was just to expensive. The first Post office was at Wheelers Ranch and that is probably why the name of Pearl. The post office closed in 1919.

Penfold

A small grouping of buildings that was never formed into a town but the locals started calling Penfold after the store erected there. It later became Gould.

Pinkhamton

Was a post office established in 1879 with James O. Pinkham its first postmaster. It was located by the Wyoming border and near the North Platte River. The post office ran from 1879 to 1904.

Rand

This town is at an elevation of 8627 feet (2630 meters) along the Indian Creek. It was established in 1881 and named for an early frontier scout and trapper, Jack A. Rand. It received a post office in 1883 and the first postmaster was Jack Rand.

Sagebrush

See Walden. Briefly held name.

Sage Hen Springs

This place had a post office in the 1880's. By 1890 it was gone along with the town. It was also known as Sage Hen and located about 4 miles south west of Walden.

Safe Here

This place was located south of Pinkhampton on the wagon road from Larimie, Wyoming to Teller City. It was a station run by a woman known as Granny Richards.

Spicer

This town is at an elevation of 8296 feet (2529 meters) and was established in 1884. A post office was here from 1884 to 1954. It was named for nearby Spicer Peak.

Teller City

This place was established on a tributary of the Illinois River in 1879 and incorporated on 27 May 1881. The reports of rich silver deposits in the area opened the flood gates to many hopefuls. The town got its name when the post office was established and named in honor of Senator Henry M. Teller. It was considered a principal town of the area with trading routes to Grand Lake, Larimie and Albany in Wyoming. The town founded the first newspaper in the area called "North Park Miner", a very influential paper of its time. At one time the town could boast a forty room hotel, two doctors, smelting works and sawmills. Most important to the nearly 2000 people were the twenty-seven saloons. But transportation costs to ship the minerals was to expensive no one could afford and then the price of silver drastically dropped so the town was abandoned by 1885. The post office operated from 1880 to 1885.

Tyner

This was a short lived mining town and established in the early 1880's. It was originally thought it would rival Teller City but the ores were of poor quality. It was located a few miles south east of Teller City.

Valdai

This place had a post office from 1889 to 1892.

Walden

At an elevation of 8099 feet (2469 meters) with an estimated population of 903 in 1994, it is the only still incorporated town in the county and also the county seat. It was established in 1889 at the crossing of wagon roads from Laramie (Wyoming) to Teller City and Albany (Wyoming) to Granby (Grand County). The founders thought this would be a good place to set up a trading center because of the Teller City mining and the many ranchers and homesteaders who were starting to move into the area. It was at a place known as "Point of Rocks" but it was not a dignified name so briefly considered Sagebrush but ended up naming it for Marcus Aurelius Walden a one time postmaster at Sage Hen Springs. On 2 December 1890 it was incorporated and received its post office.

Walton

This place was on an 1887 map.

Wheeler Ranch

This place was established in 1884 but was absorbed by Pearl for mining purposes.

Willey Lumber Camp

What the name implies.

Zirkel

A camp at the base of Mont Zirkel around the Zirkel mine the site of the biggest silver find in Northern Colorado. This place had a post office from 1899 to 1911.

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