Mead History

Centennial Exhibit Poster (October 2006)

The current histories of the Mead Community encompasses both letters and small family histories that individuals wrote. It is hard to separate what would be considered a letter or a history at this point, so I am including both under the heading of "Family Histories" Later if more items are donated to this are of the site I may divide them up into more categories.

 

Paul Mead's Railroad song to entice the farmers to grow sugar beets so the railroad will come.

A Brief History of the Town

The Town of Mead, Weld County Colorado, was originally founded in 1906 when the Great Western Railroad announced they were bypassing the growing community of Highlandlake, (founded in 1871-72), and instead laying  track a full mile east of the town. Additionally, the promised beet dump was now to be located on the eastern border of Paul Mead's (nephew of Highlandlake founder, L. C. Mead) farm. Read More

Town Government

The first town board meeting was held at Dalgetty's/Daughety's, (believed to be a dry goods store, others claim it was the local Pool Hall and barber shop), 13 April 1908. C. V. Holmes was elected Chairman Pro-Tem and I. F. Hays, Clerk Pro-Tem. The Mayor was M. S. Adams, (he had recently moved his general store from Highlandlake to the new town site). Read More

Law and Order

The first Town Marshall was J. L. Ballinger hired May 13, 1908 with a salary of $26.00 a year. It was later changed in 1910 to $10.00 a month. W. H. Wilson was the first Police Magistrate appointed - June 1908.

The first jail was a building 12' x 10' x 7'. It was a wooden frame with a flat top. The first lumber bill was for $105.00 and the land the jail stood on rented for $10.00 a year. In about 1940, the old jail house was moved up on 4th street and was sold in 1943 for $35.00.

The second jail was abandoned sometime in the 1980's. All prisoner's now go to the Weld County Jail in Greeley. One of the two old jail houses is located on Boulder Scientific's' property. I'm not sure which one it is, some say it is the original, others say it is the second one.

Businesses

For nearly 30 years, Mead was a bustling community. At its peak, Mead had three general stores, a hotel, a combination grocery store and meat market, two saloons, butcher shop, filling station Read More

Mead Post Office

The Mead Post Office was moved from Highlandlake to Mead in March of 1907. Cecil V. Holmes became the new postmaster. He ably handled the task at hand for three years, when Marion S. Adams assumed charge in October of 1910. Read More.

Newspapers

Mead had three different newspapers over the years, and a couple of more recent newsletters that lasted only a few months. In addition, the Longmont papers, the Johnstown Breeze in Johnstown, the Platteville newspaper and the Berthoud newspapers all carried news about Mead. The Longmont Ledger carried Highlandlake and Mead column for years in the early part of this century. Read More

Schools

Mead's first school was built just north of what is now the Mead Town Hall and fire station.. It was located on WCR 7, and was a two room wood-framed building. I have a couple pictures that show the school building in the far distance, but none close up. More coming soon.

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Biographies, Letters and Histories

Paul Mead- Founder of Mead, Colorado - A Biography

Paul Mead was the son of Dr. Martin Luther and Myra Mahetabel Jenkins Mead. Martin was the brother of Lorin C. Mead who founded Highlandlake. In the early 1880s Lorin contacted his younger brother, extolling the virtues of Highlandlake and telling him of the urgent need for a physician in the area. In 1883. Read More

Backward Glances - Stories of Mead and Liberty, Colorado

Veva Turner Berg was the daughter, granddaughter, and niece of early Boulder, Larimer and Weld County pioneers. I am concentrating on the parts of her life that encompass the periods years when she lived in Weld County, and most specifically in the Mead and Liberty areas of Weld county. Read More

Mr. & Mrs. M.S. Adams - taken from our Spring 2009 Newsletter. Read

 

• Paul Mead Founder of Mead, Colorado
  
  
• Some Memories of Mead & The Mead School 1919-1923 -- Hazel Elmquist Bullock
  
  
• A little history of the early days of Mead -- Homer L. Gammill
  
  
• Growing up and living in Mead, a 70 history of the town -Nick Sekich Sr.
  
  
• Laura Celia Dreier Newton by Marcus Newton

This page was updated on January 21, 2010