RESEARCHING OUR HISTORY

EXPLORE LAKEWOOD’S INTERESTING HISTORY

Are you researching Lakewood history? Heritage Lakewood’s new Research Room provides opportunities for learning and exploration. Located in the recently restored Caretaker’s Cottage, information about archives, photographs and objects is provided for free by dedicated staff members on Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Check Lakewood.org/Collection for more information.

Alex Johnson and Henry Myer at Westfield Farm at Morrison Road and Sheridan Boulevard in 1910. Montana School at Bear Creek in 1919.

Here’s how researchers and organizations from near and far have used Lakewood resources to support their work.

Read the published articles and online resources at Lakewood.org/GoodNews.

Sidewalk history tour

For more than 20 years, the nonprofit organization Alameda Connects, and later the Alameda Corridor Business Improvement District, have served Lakewood’s Alameda Avenue corridor by helping address neighborhood needs. Recently, Alameda Connects created a self-guided sidewalk history tour, consisting of icons sandblasted into the concrete. Images include local farms and significant businesses such as the Villa Italia Mall. Future designs are in the planning process by working with descendants of one of the first African American families to move to Jefferson County as well as Native American artists from the area.

Learning in the classroom

Teachers from Lakewood schools have inquired about area information to use in their classroom instruction. Topics have included Bear Creek Greenbelt historic land use and access; Native American residents past and present; segregation in suburban covenants; and Jewish experiences in tuberculosis sanatoriums. An article published by teacher Kelly Cvanciger in the Historically Jeffco magazine discusses the Montana School and Bear Creek High School in context of Lakewood's founding and diversification of the area's population.

War horse purchasing station

Professor Phil Homan from Idaho State University was on faculty sabbatical in 2019, researching Boer War (1899-1902) horses in Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, South Africa and the United Kingdom. He discovered information about the use of the Westfield Farm in Lakewood as a purchasing station for horses sent to Africa during this time. Heritage Lakewood provided additional information about the farm and several photographs for his research.

The legacy of two Lakewood community members

The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, which fosters creative and connected community in the Denver region through the arts, proposed that Tom Noel write an article about the foundation's legacy. Tom, an author and columnist also known as “Dr. Colorado,” is professor emeritus of history and director of Public History and Preservation at CU-Denver. Besides introducing Tom’s students to local history, Heritage Lakewood also provided extensive information, oral histories and photographs to support his article detailing the story of the Bonfils and Stanton families and their philanthropy.

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