Elizabeth, Colorado: enduring heritage of a small town on the divide 1881-1965

Square Moon Consultants, LLC; Stocklin-Steely, Barbara; Steely, James; Moon, Jennifer; Ross, Eric; Wegener, Philip

From introduction: "Elizabeth received designations in 2015 as an official Main Street city from DOLA and as a Certified Local Government from History Colorado and the National Park Service (NPS), the latter designation based on its 2015 historic preservation ordinance. With a Certified Local Government grant from History Colorado in 2016, the Town of Elizabeth moved to fulfill several recommendations of the 2008 Comprehensive Plan, with alignment to planning processes recognized by History Colorado and NPS. The current project for developing a Historic Context, along with an Architectural Style Guide and Educational Video, is funded and guided by this grant and its tasks defined by the Town of Elizabeth. In this report, Section 2 describes the Methodology used by Square Moon Consultants, LLC, to develop the Historic Context and Architectural Style Guide, and produce the Educational Video. The Historic Context narrative with photographs and maps comprises Section 3 of this report. The Context conveys an up-to-date narrative about human interaction with the landscape and the built environment from 1881 through 1965, including a prelude and afterword. The Architectural Style Guide is in Section 4 of this report. Elizabeth preserves many of its original 19th-century buildings, joined by many 20th-century buildings that represent popular American styles for small-town services and residences. A walk through Elizabeth is a walk through time, from the 1880s to the mid-20th-century, and practically all of the buildings from this period are occupied and productive in 2017. Recommendations based on the findings of research and public interactions are found in Section 5 of this report. Picking up on recent community efforts and documents of 1998, 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2015, as well as historic significance chronicled in the Historic Context, this report concludes with observations and recommendations for the future of the past in Elizabeth." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Town of Elizabeth, Colorado (project number CO-16-014), administered by the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P16AF00067) and the State, Tribal, Local, Plans & Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Elizabeth, Colorado is a Certified Local Government.

Elizabeth, Colorado: enduring heritage of a small town on the divide 1881-1965

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