Capping a 13-year process, the Fort Lupton Historic Preservation Board finally awarded historic designation plaques to the five remaining city structures awaiting dedication. The plaques came about as a result of some records checking, during which Historic Preservation Board chair Cammie Gabel discovered the oversight.
“I’m not sure really why they didn’t get designated, but I just happened to be going through things last year to see if they had all been given out and noticed that several were missing,” Gabel said. “Maybe there wasn’t any money available to give out plaques, I just don’t know.”
The situation is now rectified, with some funding help from the city, according to Gable. “The city has been helping us, yes,” Gable said.
The five properties, listed in order of historic designation are:
• Otteson Grain Co. Feed Mill, 815 7th Street, dedicated November 1998
• The Ewing Barn, Historic Parkway, dedicated July 2002
• St. John Building, 410 Denver Avenue, dedicated June 2004
• Odd Fellows Lodge, 709 Third Street, dedicated January 2011
• Seymour and Bertie Rhode house, 149 Denver Avenue, dedicated July 2008
Overall, the city has 10 buildings carrying historic designations at present. The five celebrated during the plaque ceremony are largely central to the city, with two on Denver Avenue, one on Third Street and one on the city’s Historic Parkway across from the recreated fort. The Otteson mill is another, serving as the home of the La Familia Froy’s Mexican restaurant on Seventh Street near the rail tracks.
Since 1920 until restoration, that building, known on national historic rolls as the Ottesen Grain Co. Feed Mill, functioned as the sole grain buyer and livestock feed processor for the Fort Lupton area for more than fifty years.
The Ewing Barn, constructed in 1910 and along the city’s Historic Parkway, is the last remaining structure from the Ewing Ranch, established by one of the foremost pioneering families in northeastern Colorado. Originally a horse barn, the building suffered a serious fire in 1935.
The St. John building was also ravaged by fire, in 1912. Interestingly, when the blaze appeared ready to take the entire structure, the water tank on top of the building collapsed, flooding the fire and saving the landmark.
The Rhode House, home of the Seymour and Bertie Rhode family, housed the founders of Fort Lupton’s first bank, the Fort Lupton State Bank.
“Seymour served as a vice president and cashier and Bertie, his wife, held the title of president, which was really a remarkable position for a woman at that time,” Gable said.
Built in 1914, the Odd Fellows Lodge stalled during construction due to a brick shortage, remaining incomplete until additional materials were obtained. The building, built on a grand scale, was planned large enough to house shops underneath to finance the Odd Fellow operations, housing multiple businesses throughout the years.