Mr. Sedivy's
History Classes:

More Features:

- Colorado History -
The History of Littleton, Colorado

The City of Littleton in the 1890s:
Littleton's First Mayor, Pickletown,
Discovery of Gold in the Foothills

March 8, 1890
Incorporation of Littleton - The population of Littleton was now 245. The people of Littleton discussed incorporating their village, but some folks hesitated. Some feared that incorporation would bring prohibition, since governments of the day were being besieged by the temperance movement. Supporters of incorporation thought that liquor establishments would simply be controlled, licensed, and would bring money to the town's treasury.

Downtown Littleton - The Corner of Prince and Main Street c.1890

The Littleton Gazette wrote:
"A town is just what its residents make it. ... If they acquire a habit of staying at home and taking no interest in the social and public happenings, it will gain a reputation for dullness and stupidity that it will take a long time to change."

Another front page newspaper read: "If we incorporate we make a territory that will be controlled by the citizens of this part of the country, and not by influences cast about us from the great City of Denver." Detractors to incorporation labeled some Littleton citizens as "Chronic Bums" who would raise taxes. The citizens wanted to control their own destiny, so a vote for incorporation of Littleton was held on March 8, 1890. Of eighty-nine votes cast, only three opposed incorporation.

April 1, 1890 Franklin S. Gilmore, a local rea1 estate salesman, was elected the first mayor of Littleton on April 1, 1890.

1890
John G. Lilley Hook and Ladder Company was organized as Littleton's first volunteer fire department.

Littleton Hose Company #2 in the early 1890s

1891
Littleton had a visit from members of the local Women's Christian Temperance Union. The Gazette reported:
"There were highjinks in Littleton last Tuesday night. ... Members of the W.C.T.U. showed up at the Board of Trustees meeting, planning to present some petitions regarding prohibition. Four of the trustees, it turned out, caught wind of their coming and absented themselves."

Facing such unpleasantness, Mayor Gilmore suddenly felt ill, and quickly excused himself from the meeting. A thorough search by the town marshall failed to produce the four missing trustees, so the meeting had to be adjourned. The next morning, an effigy of one Mr. O. J. Baird, of St. Louis, promoter of the ladies' petition, was seen swinging from a Main Street lamp post."

1892
Harry Knight operated a huge apiary, sometimes called the Bee Factor of the Beesy Bee Beesness, employing some twenty people. Julius Hill had earlier started the Littleton Creamery Company which gained fame for its butter and ice cream. The Littleton Cheese Company joined the local dairy industry. The Merry Pickle Company employed fifty workers in its canning factory. "Pickletown" was located just north of the Highline Canal (east of today's Broadway - Clarkson area).

Early Littleton Beekeepers

mid 1890s
Gold strikes were made in the foothills just west of Littleton. Prospectors found gold in Deer Creek, Turkey Creek and in Kennedy Gulch. For a brief moment Littleton thought it could become another Cripple Creek, but only a few of the mines ever paid. "One fellow got $25,000 out of his," summarized Sam Smothers, "and the other mine was owned by Chatfield, old man Caley, and Ed Bowles, who took $65,000 out of the Sampson mine."

1898
The town of Littleton establishes water rates. The going rate was $6.00 a year for a house with a bath tub, with another $3.00 if it had a second tub, and an additional $6.00 if it had a "water closet" rather than an outdoor privy.

The History of Littleton, Colorado
1. | History of Littleton: Prehistory - 1859 Colorado Gold Rush |
2. | Littleton in the Early 1860s / Founding Fathers |
3. | 1860s: Lewis Ames, Littleton's First Teachers and School,
Indian Troubles and Early Buildings in Littleton |
4. | Littleton 1870 - 1879: Railroads, 1st Church, Highline Canal |
5. | Littleton in the 1880s: Avery Gallup, First Newspaper |
6. | The City of Littleton in the 1890s: First Mayor, Pickletown |
7. | 1900s: South Arapahoe County, Littleton Named County Seat |
8. | Littleton 1910 - 1920s: Town Improvements / Industry |
9. | Littleton, Colorado in the 1930s and 1940s |
10. | The Boom of the 1950s and 1960s in Littleton, Colorado |
11. | Littleton: 1970s to Present, Concrete Pods and All |
12. | Littleton Trivia and Stuff You've Always Wondered About! |

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- Colorado History In Depth -
Lecture Notes, Reading, and Information:

| The Cheyenne Migration to Colorado |
| The Gratlan Affair, Massacre, Fort Laramie Treaty |

The Cheyenne Social Club
| A Cheyenne War Story: Wolf Road, the Runner |
| Cheyenne Traditions and Beliefs, Sacred Stories |
| Horses, Warriors, War Pipe, Sweatlodge Ceremony |
| Cheyenne War Parties and Battle Tactics |
| The Scalp Dance and Other Cheyenne Dances |

Fort Union
| The Sante Fe Trail and Fort Union |
| Sumner - Ninth Military Department / The First Fort Union |
| Early Arrivals to Fort Union, Daily Life at Fort Union |
| Captain Grover - The New Fort Union, the Confederate Threat |
| Fort Union Arsenal, William Shoemaker, End of Fort Union |

Americans from the East
| Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Purchase |
| The Expedition of Zebulon Pike |
| Pikes Peak or Bust / Colorado Gold Rush |

Colorado's Role in the US Civil War
| The Civil War, Fort Wise / Fort Lyon |
| Mace's Hole, Colonel Canby, F.C.V.R. | Fort Weld |
| The Pet Lambs, John Chivington |
| General Henry Sibly, Battle of Valverde, Fort Union |

Cripple Creek District Labor Strikes
| The Western Federation of Miners / State Militia |
| The 1893 - 1894 Strike | The Strike of 1903 - 1904 |
| The Mine Owners Association |
| Crimes and Military Rule in the Cripple Creek District |
| Marshall Law in Cripple Creek District / End of the Strike |
Early Cripple Creek District
| Photos, Fire, and Life in Cripple Creek |
| Other Colorful Towns in the Cripple Creek District:
Gillett - Colorado's Only Bullfight, Victor, Independence |
| A Guide to the Miners' Gritty Lingo |

More Colorado History Information
| Bent's Fort Photos, Personalities, Plans, and More |
| What Was Easter Like at Bent's Fort? |
| Colorado Trivia, Miscellaneous Old Photos,
Western Personalities, Forts, and More |
| Lullabies for Jittery Cows - Cowboy Ballads |
| Heraldry of the Branding Iron |
| Project Aims to Clear Infamous Cannibal, Alferd Packer |
| Lead Gives Alferd Packer's Story More Weight |
| Legendary Colorado Love Stories: Baby Doe Tabor & More |
| Colorado Pioneer Women: Elizabeth Byers |
| Early Denver Jokes / The History of April Fools' Day |
| History of the US Memorial Day Holiday |

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