Washington County, Colorado
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Washington County Neighbors:
Adams ~ Arapahoe ~
Elbert [Shares a Corner] ~
Kit Carson ~
Lincoln ~
Logan ~
Morgan &
Yuma
History ~ Biographies & Pioneers ~ Old Washington Co. Files ~ Maps ~ Lookups ~ What's New
Brief History:
Washington County was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. It later became part of Nebraska and Kansas Territories. In 1861, it was part of Weld and Arapahoe Counties.
In the early 1880’s, Weld County occupied all of northeastern Colorado which served as a vast open range, primarily for three cattle companies – John Iliff’s, Jared L. Brush’s and Bruce Johnson’s 22 Ranch which covered most of present day Washington and Yuma Counties., Homesteaders objected to the vast distance to the county seat in Greeley and in 1884 submitted a petition to divide Weld County in half with the eastern half to constitute Iliff County. The cattle barons roared in protest of the petition and nothing came of the 1884 effort to break up Weld County into small counties.
An act of the Colorado General Assembly created Washington County, named for the “Father of his Country” (George Washington) on February 9, 1887. In 1889, Yuma County was taken from the eastern half of Washington county. In 1903, the current boundaries were established.
Some early communities included: Abbott, Akron, Anton, Arickaree, Brunker, Burdett, Cope, Curtis, Denova, Dillingham, Elba, Flat Top, Fremont, Gilchrist, Glen, Harrisburg, Henry, Hyde, Leslie, Meekton, Messex, Otis, Pinneo, Plum Bush, Platner, Prairie, Rago, Simpson, Spence, Thurman, Wagner, Waitley, Willadel, Woodrow, Xenia. Incorporated towns in Washington County are Akron and Otis. Unincorporated communities include: Anton, Cope, Last Chance, Lindon Otis, Platner and Woodrow.
The highest point of elevation in the county is 5433 feet situated at the Washington-Lincoln County line 11.8 miles south of Last Chance on Hwy 71 and 2.2 miles east on County Road 0, The lowest point of elevation in the county is in the far northeastern corner at 3913 feet just north of county road 54 east of Lone Star.
Washington County is the 12th most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado with a total of 2524 square miles. Most of the land is dedicated to farming and ranching. The county has been a leader of all the Colorado counties in wheat production.
Other crops grown are corn, oats, and millet.
Washington County is strategically located in the center of Northeastern Colorado. Major highways include: Interstate Highway I- 76, U.S. Highways 34 and 36, State Highways 61, 63 and 71. The County is within 115 miles of Denver and has quick access to U.S. trade routes. Most of the land is dedicated to family farming and ranching.
Population is approximately 4,814. Akron is the County Seat and is also home to the Washington County Museum, Colorado Plains Regional Airport, Washington County Golf Course, Washington County Fairgrounds and Events Center with the first home-owned carnival in Colorado. Akron and the surrounding towns offer quality of life without the hustle and bustle of the city. A perfect place to relax, rejuvenate, and get back to the basics of life, our County captures the honesty and determination of rural people and their families.
Washington County resident Carl Lindahl has started an ambitious project to map the locations of past Washington County farms and identify them by owner. Here is Carl's message and website address: I am working on a project to id and map places in Washington County where people live and have lived and with some annotation. Am in the process of interviewing people in the different areas of the county that know some of the history. Many of the old time places are being farmed over and I feel it is important to locate and id those places. Here is the link for my map. People who Lived in Washington County Colorado
Note:
Pioneers & Biographies
List of Pioneer Family Histories
The Pioneer Book of Washington County Colorado
Vols I and II - Indexes
These volumes contain histories of pioneer families all having lived in Washington County prior to 1900
Vol I is available in the FS Catalog
"The History of Burdett, Washington County, Colorado"
as related by Dorcas Harvey in 1919
"In the year 1870 there was one William or Bill Burdett settled on Rock Creek, and had his shanty built of buffalo hides, of which there were many running wild on the prairie at that time...."
"The Life-and-Death Story of Hyde", Washington County, Colorado
by Regina Carpenter
"The first lots in Hyde were sold in May 1886 by the Lincoln Land Co. The price varied from $100 to $500."
History of Otis, Washington County, Colorado
"Otis in the Olden Days" by Joan Gartin
"Until the railroad pushed west, it was difficult for most people to move out here in the plains to establish homes. In 1882, however, the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad track was laid through Otis and connected the plains areas with Denver."
Washington County Historic and Pioneer Photos Project
This section contains donated photos of people and places in Washington County with special emphasis on photos
and biographies of Washington County pioneers as follows:
Calvin Chapman, Cary Doggett, John Mosby, Anna Bancroft and Gordon Bullock, Eli and Rosann Conely,
Heath Nels and Josie Oman, John J. and Alice Bates Woods, and the Newsom and Hill families.
Pioneers ~
Places
With Thanks:
Arnold, Linda R F ~ Behrendsen, Darrel ~ Benish, Rick ~ Carey, Barbara
Chapman, Samuel ~ Dole, Jack ~ Glenn, Arlene ~ Grudzinski, Pat
Harbert, Chuck ~ Harris, John ~ Kilgore, Gail ~Monk, M D
Neznanski, Shirley Oman ~ Saul, William ~Thomason, Elizabeth
Files from the old Washington GenWeb Pages If you just want to look at all of the files
that have been reformatted to searchable pdf's
Go Here: General Files
The 'general files' include all of the family information submitted through the years.
Military:
Gold Star Veteran's / Obituaries
Washington County Veterans
The Military / Veteran information that was in the old Washington County Files has been reformatted.
Please use this link.
The Page includes the following: Gold Star veterans, and veterans who served in World Wars I and II.
There were Obituaries which will be found on the above link.
Washington County Post Offices and Postmasters
From 1883 through 1961 with township/range/section coordinates for each post office
Historic Washington County School Districts:
Washington County Maps /
Place Names
A Lee Zion original with a wealth of detail such as the old railroad camps of Xenia and Pinneo
Miscellaneous Washington County Names
Surnames covered: Ball, Butts, Davis, Dunton, Irwin, Jamison, Kendon, Lett, Llewellyn, McCollister, Muntzing, Payne, Pelton, Pickett, Smith, Stokes, Warner, Whitlake, Wilcox, and Yeamans.
The articles linked below
are on the 'Stories' Page
John S Mosby "The Gray Ghost" ~ Christmas at Grandma's House ~ T.A. Erb Family History
The Obits below are self linked.
Ray Edward Smith (1894-1964) ~ Donna Lee Mountain Cooley (1934-2016) ~ Robert Dean Mack (1930-2015) and...
Miscellaneous Photos from the Old Washington County Pages
Families: Mosby, Smith, Schafer 'Signs'
Maps
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