Historic Douglas County, Inc.

This book was introduced to the public on November 5, 2022.  This history is the compilation of 24 writers, covering the County’s six historic eras from the end of the Ice Age to 2020.  The 430-page book contains 67 chapters, photographs and graphics, and an extensive index.  The book is a scholastic book and is available on Amazon.com …on Amazon.com’s book tab, just search for Historic Douglas County.

A synopsis of the book is succinctly listed on the back cover of the book which reads:

“In the early 1990s, Douglas County, Colorado was the fastest growing county in the United States, and by the early 2020s, its population had surpassed 350,000. Douglas County was founded in 1861, when Colorado became a U.S. Territory. In the 160 years since then, it went from being rural to suburban as cattle ranches and dairy farms were turned into subdivisions and shopping centers. Throughout its history, residents have coped with droughts, floods, depressions, and political change. Over time, some of its small historical towns grew large, while others resisted growth and stayed small. New towns gobbled up open space, and increased traffic led to continuous new road construction. But the most important part of the Douglas County story is its hardworking and forward-looking people who often argue about growth but still believe it is a beautiful place to live and raise their families. This is their story.”

“Featured Topics

Prehistory – First Comers – Early Settlers and Settlements – Colorado Gold Rush in 1859 – Indians – U.S. Territory and Statehood – Agricultural Development – Limited Water Supply -Transportation – Modernization –  Population Increases – Natural Disasters – Increasing Economic Diversity – County and Local Governments – Political Stability and Change – Pro and Anti-Growth Strategies – Wars – Public and Private Education – Economic Depressions – Law Enforcement – Distinctive County Regions – Recreation and Entertainment – Notable Citizens”

BUY ON AMAZON.COM

The year of 2020 will likely become known as the “Year that Wasn’t” by many of us, dramatically impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the cultural cancelling focus stemming from the George Floyd death caused by Minneapolis police, out contentious political strife, what seems to be the demise of law and order along with stability in some of our big cities across the Nation and the sweltering of July and August’s 90 degree days with little-to-no moisture, driving wildfires and Colorado into an official drought condition. Wow! The fusion of all these impacts has caused extraordinary changes to our normals not only in Douglas County and Colorado but across the entire, populated world! The key word in what we are experiencing isn’t chaos, which immediately comes to mind, but change something poet Jake Harris addresses in his popular poem on the right. Harris pens that change is “Inevitable and optimistically concludes that “…change is the light at the end of the tunnel.”

All the prelude on change leads me to address our HDC website operation. This HDC website, after ten and a half years in its current operation format, is changing. Although the website will look visually the same, we are going to manage and maintain it a bit differently, shifting to being a bit more compact, eliminating a few seldom visited menu items (left sidebar) and combining others. Likely, the biggest change you’ll notice is that our homepage for the site will become more stable and not completely changed every month. The second major change you will note is that HDC has now combined the News and Around the West menu items into one menu item, News of Douglas County & Around the West. These changes reflect a more efficient website and also recognize that our longstanding webmaster, Larry Schlupp, is retiring from that position. Other than what I’ve mentioned, you may see a few more changes as we move into the future.

Good news! Douglas County Open Space is readying to open their gorgeous Sandstone Ranch property for hiking. For those of you who have driven on Highway 105 in southern Douglas County, you have seen that Open Space has the entrance, driveway and parking lot just about finished. Jackie Sanderson of D.C. Open Space tells me that in mid-September, they will open three trails in the northeast corner of the ranch. Great news for all of us loving the great outdoors and wanting to get some good air.

Jim Weglarz
President