The Larkspur Historical Society

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PAST EVENTS LHS Hosts Castle Rock Bus Tour LHS at the Douglas County Fair Spring Valley Cemetary Walking Tour

PEOPLE People Placeholder PLACES Creamery Larkspur School American Federation of Human Rights TIMELINE Larkspur Incorporation - 1979 Larkspur Flood - 1965

PEOPLE People Placeholder PLACES Ben Quick Ranch Fort Washington Perry Park Grocery & Hotel Nanichant inn Glen Grove TIMELINE Perry Park Chronology Indian Raid of 1868

PEOPLE Patrick Murphy PLACES Spring Valley Cheese Factory Spring Valley School Divide Grange Geiger Store TIMELINE Spring Valley Chronology

PEOPLE People Placeholder PLACES Cherry School TIMELINE Timeline Placeholder

PEOPLE People Placeholder PLACES Greenland Ranch Higby Mercantile Territorial Road Greenland School TIMELINE Timeline Placeholder

PEOPLE People Placeholder PLACES John Hammond Turkey Ranch Crull Hammond Cabin Huntsville Post Office TOMAH Dawson Butte TIMELINE Huntsville Chronology 1860-1869 Crull Cabin Chronology 1859-2010

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Rhyolite

The story on Rhyolite appearing in the Douglas County area is that volcanic eruptions many miles west of our state and many years ago, threw this substance shooting it into Douglas County, it hardened and deposits were formed, found on buttes surrounding Castle Rock. The business of extracting this rock from the buttes was a very profitable industry for many years and for many people, bringing expert rock crafters to our area. Buildings in Denver, such as Union Station and Trinity Methodist Church, also show the use of Rhyolite and this stone was shipped across the country.

Many historic buildings in Castle Rock and some new construction have been built with Rhyolite or accents of the stone. The historic Benjamin Quick home on highway 105 in the Larkspur area was built with this rock, which was naturally occurring on Mr. Quick’s property; he also built a fence around the home with it.

Today a butte, on the south end of Castle Rock, which was a major source of this stone has been turned into an open space, and was renamed Quarry Mesa. Silas Madge was the quarry owner in 1872 and it was in operation for thirty years, with it being used again in the 1980s and closing, again, in the 1990s. Adjacent and to and east of Quarry Mesa, and at a lower elevation, is Rhyolite Regional Park, which is a beautiful recreation area with playgrounds, tennis courts and everything else that makes a fun park, including educational historical information and artifacts of the mining operation.

The historic 1800s era Crull Cabin, which has been the subject of many open houses to educate the public, included Rhyolite in its restoration. Rhyolite was used for the cabin’s foundation, two large pieces of this rock can be found just outside of the cabin.

Many buildings along the Front Range have used Rhyolite mined in Douglas County some of them are: Castle Rock School; original Douglas County Court House; Keystone Hotel , Castle Rock; Trinity Methodist Church, Denver; Union Station at 1515 Larimer Street, Denver; Arapahoe County Court House, Littleton; Windsor Hotel; St. Elizabeth Church, Denver; Charles Boettcher residence, Denver, Colorado are a few of the many buildings all over the United States.