Niwot Historical Spotlight: Residential Old Town Niwot

The Left Hand Valley Courier is spotlighting various local neighborhoods, their history, issues and general nature. This week, the Courier is spotlighting the Old Town residential neighborhood.

Thanks to its proximity to the railroad depot, Second Avenue is one of the oldest areas of commerce in town. As the earliest Niwotians created businesses on both the eastern and western side of the railroad tracks, now the Diagonal Highway, they chose to live in or around where they worked.

Eventually, the eastern side of the tracks became the focus of community activity, and this was also where residents settled, though a final group of residences persisted on the west side of the tracks until the mid-20th century. Today, the residential area of Old Town features a varied mix of homes that reflect its earliest stories and people, the passage of history over time, and modern impacts of area life.

Residential Niwot in the early years

Boulder County author and historian Anne Dyni ("Niwot Colorado: Echoes From a Railroad Town") said that when Niwot was platted, the railroad was already in place, so streets were laid out parallel to the tracks. This meant that the streets were not parallel to early roads, such as Niwot Road, Mineral Road and Foothills Highway. Niwot founders Porter Hinman and Ambrose Murray, who recorded the original town plat in 1875, named these streets after themselves. As of the date of the platting, two of the original streets that parallel Franklin Street had not been constructed which left Second Avenue to extend east for an uninterrupted three-block area.

According to Dyni, early resident Evan Gould provided an oral history of Old Town, noting that even three decades after the platting, Niwot Road was still made of dirt and the town was without sidewalks. Around that time, housing was beginning to be built in the area. The Niwot Weekly News, the local newspaper at the time, reported that by 1912, several houses already existed with others reported to be under construction. By 1924, housing affordability was an issue for potential residents and Dyni's research showed that even at that time, there were lots priced so high new additions were planned to be platted in order to increase availability.

As with many other areas on the front range, water was a consistent concern for Niwot's earliest residents. Around 1912, water came from wells and cisterns and from the Hinman Ditch in the summer. Soon residents were grappling not only with impacts of the depression, but with a low water supply during a dry year. When the weather didn't allow for water to run in the ditch, residents needed to source it from Longmont, hauling it themselves or paying for horse-drawn water trucks.

By the 1960s, the wells and cisterns that served these residents so well initially became contaminated by septic systems. The Left Hand Water Company, now Left Hand Water District, was established in 1961, to address this issue and to serve residents who were moving to neighborhoods developed throughout town.Growth was partially the result of a growing workforce from the nearby IBM plant which came in 1965. The Niwot Sanitation District soon followed to provide an alternative to septic systems.

Providing clues to Boulder County life over time

Houses in residential Old Town not only provide information about Niwot's earliest residents, they give glimpses of the history of the area over time. One of the most dramatic examples of this is the Frank Bader Home at 210 Franklin Street. Built around 1908 by Frank Bader, one of Niwot's first postmasters, who also operated Bader Brothers Mercantile west of the train tracks, it is the only residence included in the Niwot Historic District. It was also occupied by Niwot's first physician, Dr. Dusef.

Since founding, the home has also hosted businesses, including a law office and a Christmas-focused store. A barn constructed on the property became an antique store, before being converted to offices for an oil and gas company, and later a series of restaurants, including the French restaurant Le Chanticleer and Colterra Restaurant which brought a large number of visitors to town.

A fire in 2018 made the restaurant property unusable, and the community watched to see what it's next use would be. The current owner, Nassar Development, is planning for a mixed use development.

The building on the corner of Third Avenue and Franklin Street used to house the area's creamery, which served an important function for area farmers who no longer had to send raw milk to Longmont. Until at least 2015, a milk sampling tank remained in the building's attic. The northeast corner of that intersection was the site of the Niwot United Brethren Church, which burned in the early 1950s, was reconstructed, and eventually became a preschool and daycare center as the church, now known as the Niwot United Methodist Church, moved to Gunbarrel in 1968. More recently the property is the home of Left Hand Animal Hospital.

While other homes in the area don't have a direct connection to Niwot's earliest residents, some present occupants are fortunate enough to experience whatever history that their homes have a connection to. One resident of 3rd Avenue described how she lives in a home that was moved to the area from 22nd Street and Canyon Boulevard in Boulder in 1974. She and her family proceeded with a major remodel in 2005, unearthing old letters and postcards, historic photos, newspaper articles from the 1930s, a one-cent cigarette box, old bottles and a 1908 calendar.

Victoria Keen and Mike Selak purchased their 1925-built 3rd Avenue home approximately 60 years after it was built. Keen recalled a time when former residents stopped by the house requesting to see it. While they were there, they reminisced about a time before the home was plumbed and they had to give the household's children baths in a kitchen washtub. The house at that time was smaller, contained a larder in the home and an outhouse in back.

Another 3rd Avenue house represents an even later history, built in the early 1960s as a retirement home for the contractor's elderly parents. The current owners were told that the home is positioned in an alternate direction from the others on the street because the contractor wanted it to be "square with the world." Since moving into the home, the current residents have found historical items, including iron and crockery, buried in the yard.

While these examples demonstrate how these homeowners treasure whatever historical connections they find. The history is valued whether it's specific to Niwot's earliest days or to a wider range of time and geography throughout the region. It is likely one of the benefits of living in that area that continues to draw residents to move there.