There is little that disturbs some young people more than when
an older individual enters the conversation with, “I can remember
when….” That statement, though, is like receiving a small verbal
vignette of history. With the rapid changes that have occurred
recently throughout northern El Paso County, one doesn’t have to
very old to use this phrase.
For instance: “I can remember when Baptist Road was a loose-rock
two-lane road,” or, “I can remember that Antelope once grazed where
the Monument Market place now stands.”
Ida May Noe is a lovely, spry 86-year-old lady that has filled
scrapbooks with memories. She can reminisce with authority while
saying, “I can remember when,” — and she can.
She’ll tell you there is nothing like living on a road or street
named after your family. The Noe and Higby families established
their domain in northern El Paso and lower Douglas counties in the
mid-1800s. She lives on W. Noe Road between Palmer Lake and
Larkspur.
Ida May married John Noe in October 1943 at the Little Log
Church in Palmer Lake. They celebrated their 50th anniversary at
the same church, and she still attends each Sunday.
They finally received electricity to the farm in 1952. “The
delay wasn’t because there were no lines; it was that a neighbor
refused permission to cross his property because he was afraid the
cattle could be electrocuted,” Noe said.
The first TV was a used model they purchased in 1955 for
$30.
The original home on the 1,400-acre farm had a windmill that
pumped water into a storage tank, before that, water was taken from
a creek.
After the death of John Noe’s father, the 1,400-acre Eagle Ranch
was divided between the eight children. Ida May and John named
theirs Noeville Farm because it wasn’t large enough to be called a
ranch.
The farm was declared a Centennial Farm in 1990, as it had been
lived on for a 100 years by the same family.
A private line telephone arrived in 1980 replacing the 10-party
line. The party line acted like today’s text messaging on the cell
phones. Except back then people wanted privacy.
Grocery shopping was from small stores in Larkspur or Palmer
Lake. Clark’s store in Palmer Lake is now a coffee shop.
Noe has three children, nine grandchildren, and 17
great-grandchildren. The children attended the small school in
Greenland where they constituted a fourth of the school
students.
John Noe’s father attended the school in 1892 when it was
originally built, it closed in 1957.
The Town of Greenland was founded in 1876 and with the closing
of the post office in 1958, basically ceased to exist. It was
served by two railroads that provided passenger service and freight
service. One of the depots was a boxcar; the other had a small
station. The area was once a major potato-growing area. They
depended upon the trains to carry their produce to the markets.
Automobiles were hard to come by in the ‘40s because of the war.
A relative finally received a new Studebaker in 1943. John Noe ran
the car off the road and over turned it the same year while on his
way to pick up Ida May. “However, there was little damage,” she
said. Their first car was a Pontiac which they bought used from the
dealership for $100. They paid it off at $10 per month.
In the ‘40s and ‘50s social activities included a Saturday night
dance that would rotate between Monument, Palmer Lake, Larkspur and
occasionally Greenland. Schools had card parties to raise money
including auctioning off home-baked cakes. The Home Demonstration
Club and the 4-H Club rounded out the month.
“We had a garden. I did a lot of canning, one year I canned as
many as 500 jars,” Noe said.
“Our house was built on the site of an Indian camping area. John
figured that they had known the best place to camp,” Noe said.
She worked in Castle Rock for Douglas County from 1963-1988
serving as the deputy county clerk and payroll manager. She has
been volunteering at the Larkspur Elementary school for the last 20
years where she is fondly known as Grandma Noe.
Noe will be 87 in July.