Rattlesnake Jack.
The Lost Fort Collins blog is an unofficial exploration of historic Fort Collins. You’ll find topics about old commercial sites, art, and modest housing. Plus, gossip!
I don’t have history credentials. I’m not even from Colorado originally. But I love old things. The Lost Fort Collins blog gives me a reason to take walks, snap pictures, and talk to locals.
Credits
Lost Oregon. I’ve always admired John Chilson’s Lost Oregon. He encouraged me to do this blog–he even set up my account and helped me see the potential blog entries in the stories I would tell him about Fort Collins.
So, thank you to John! I hope I do the “Lost <yourcitynamehere>” franchise justice.
Museum, etc. Fort Collins has great historic resources: the Museum, Poudre Landmarks, and the Archives (I love the archives). Then there are the history columnists. I try not to replicate what they do so well. That’s why you’ll never see a bio of Franklin Avery here (but you might see something about what a Mama’s boy his son, Edgar, was).
I’m not trying to be an historian or journalist. Meaning, I’m happy to publish rumors and stories I hear (but I won’t make things up). The museum and archives can tell you the truth about all of it. Really, check things out with them before you take my word for anything.
Rattlesnake Jack. The snapshot of Rattlesnake Jack doesn’t relate to anything on this page–except that I ended up with the painting on the front of the piano. Ask your older local friends about Jack. They’ll tell the wildest stories. (Oh, and then come back and tell me! cat at lostfortcollins dot com)
Hooray! I’m looking forward to reading your stories about Fort Collins.
I forgot to ask you when I was there: was the Poudre ever a transportation route during the early days?
I’m reading Willamette Landings – it’s about Oregon towns that lived and died based on their location to the mighty Willamette.
Willamette Landings Ghost Towns of the River
AFAIK, no part of the Poudre is navigable by anything but kayak. Towns around here evolved more because of their nearness overland rail and migration routes over the mountains.
Towns live and die as trains, highways, and mining come and go. It also helps to have a tony ski resort nearby.
Hey Cat, nice meeting you today. Thanks for telling me about your blog. I love the subject. The writing is nice too.
Fort Collins is a interesting place to say the least–an easy place to like. It evokes a curiosity in me also as I wander through town, and I love hearing the stories of the old-timers about how it “used to be”. It is also fascinating to watch the town as it evolves, sometimes for good, sometimes maybe not so much.
The buzzard tree off Mountain Avenue near Shields which you refer to somewhere….what do you know about that?
Wondering when you will post the info on the old neighborhood stores.
Hi Mark,
Tour de Neighborhood Groceries is up!
The vulture tree…none of them are very historic, AFAIK. But Lost Oregon suggested a tour that took a Lost Fort Collins approach to the trolley route. Maybe I’ll include the Mountain Avenue Condors on that tour.
Hey Cat–check out the new Fort Collins Museum/Discovery Science Center website at http://www.fcmdsc.org
We have a blog now!!
-L
Where exactly in F.C. was the old sugar beet factory?
It is still there, only now it is the streets facility. It is on the southwest corner of Vine and Ninth Street (Lemay Ave).
Hey, Neat blog-site! Here is something I’ve been wondering about: When I first came to the area, 1978, there was remains of an multi-engine propeller-driven airplane lying off the southeast end of the old Fort Collins airport runway, near where Venetian Marble and Granite is today. The remnants were removed years ago, I think it was about when the Timberline extension was built. Can you dig up anything about that plane? What was it, why was it there, anything?
Is there any chance in getting this blog reactivated? I just ran across it in while looking for an old friend.
Hi Glenn, I no longer live in Fort Collins. So, I’m not likely to do it.
Check out Forgotten Fort Collins. Meg writes good articles about Fort Collins history regularly at that site.