|
Supporting History Originally published in Colorado History NOW, November 2005 
In November, Veteran’s Day events sometimes receive less attention than Thanksgiving Day celebrations. But not this year. Americans are not likely to let the eleventh day of the eleventh month pass without pausing to reflect on the service and sacrifice of U.S. military personnel, past and present. Remembrance of any kind, as CHS members know, is often facilitated by “touchstones,” or significant and authentic reminders, of our shared history. The State Historical Fund, which provides financial and technical assistance to Coloradans who identify and preserve these special historic places, has supported many projects involving military facilities. Among them, Fort Logan and Fort Lyon deserve commendation. On February 17, 1887, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill establishing the facility that became Fort Logan. The site, 640 acres along the Morrison branch of the South Park Railroad ten miles southwest of Denver, was selected by General Phil Sheridan. Construction, which focused on a 32-acre parade ground with officers’ quarters lining the south and west sides, began the following year. After World War II, Congress decommissioned the post and the Veterans Administration ran it as a convalescent and medical facility. In 1951, several parcels were sold off for housing development or deeded to local municipalities for schools and recreation facilities, while 200 acres were transferred to the National Cemetery at Fort Logan. The remaining 220 acres containing most of the remaining buildings were placed under control of the Colorado Department of Human Services. In 1961 the facility was rededicated as the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan. The CDHS faces numerous facility management challenges because many of Fort Logan’s buildings are now more than a hundred years old and have been adapted to uses for which they were not intended. A master plan will partially alleviate the problem by assessing the buildings’ conditions, their current functions, and projected uses while establishing a long-term campus-wide improvement program that maintains the fort’s historic character. The plan also calls for a cultural resources survey that will document all four of the campus’s eras of development. The mix of structures range from the 1889 Field Officers Quarters—the only example outside of New York of a particular military building type—to 1960s hospital buildings designed by master architect Temple Buell. All of the work will increase public awareness of a unique place where children play soccer on fields once used by soldiers preparing for the Spanish American War and World War I. Fort Lyon, a late nineteenth-century military outpost built along the Santa Fe Trail and Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado, shares Fort Logan’s history of multiple owners and uses. Laid out in typical western fort fashion with a central parade ground surrounded by officers’ quarters, company quarters, and a headquarters building, the place sat unused from 1888 to 1906. After enduring deterioration and looting during its vacant period, it found new life as a tuberculosis sanitarium for the US Navy. The new owners planted on-site farms, orchards, and nurseries for ailing mariners who needed dry land, fresh air, and sunshine as part of their rehabilitation. When tuberculosis cases declined, the Veterans Administration took over the fort and used it to treat psychiatric patients from all branches of the service. The facility’s current architectural character reflects changes made during the VA period. In 2000, the VA deeded the complex to the State of Colorado’s Department of Corrections. This transfer prompted the Bent County Historical Society to conduct a State Historical Fund–supported cultural resource survey to re-evaluate current knowledge about the site, generate new information through archaeological investigations and other means, and develop a guide for future stewardship and long-term management. Fort Lyon is now one of the newest National Register districts in Colorado. As we celebrate and remember the men and women serving in the armed forces this month, the State Historical Fund is continuing to assist people who want to preserve Colorado’s military sites. If done right, this work will not only preserve buildings, it will help save the spirit of sacrifice itself. BY LYLE MILLER, SHF Outreach Specialist
|
