Page 6 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor
Historic Home Tour adds vintage cars By Mark French The Surveyor Make plans now to spend the day in Berthoud on Saturday, June 16, for the 14th annual Berthoud Historic Home Tour. Again this year an added feature of the event will be a vintage car show that promises to please car buffs. And if that is not enough, for the second consecutive year the Berthoud Outdoor Quilt Show will also be held that day in Berthoud’s centrally located Fickel Park. You won’t want to miss any of these festivities that make Berthoud the place to be for a classic Colorado small town summer celebration. This year’s Berthoud Historic Home Tour includes the following sites: Vintage Car Show at Eighth Street and Turner Avenue: A free event that will entertain antique automobile enthusiasts while friends and family admire handcrafted quilts and tour historic homes, this vintage car show rounds out the day when Berthoud steps back in time to celebrate its rich heritage.
Summer in Berthoud 4 2012 The McCarty House at 617 Sixth St. Constructed by local contractor John A. Bell for his personal residence, this stately Victorian home was purchased by Dr. D.W. McCarty and his new bride, Jennie Fagan, shortly after their marriage in 1906. Helen McCarty-Fickel, Berthoud’s noted historian, and her brothers Horace and Wilson were raised in this home that is one of the crown jewels of Berthoud’s historic Sixth Street neighborhood. The Fairbairn House at 616 Seventh St. One of several houses built in Berthoud for businessman Andy Fairbairn, this elegant brick home is located steps away from Fickel Park where Berthoud’s school was located from the 1880s to the 1960s. Also the home of the Fletcher family that published The Berthoud Bulletin in the 1950s and ‘60s, loving care for many decades has enabled the dwelling to retain its “early teens” charm. The Foursquare Church at 500 Fourth St. Originally built by Berthoud’s United Brethren congregation, this place of worship has been the home of the Foursquare Church for over a half-century. Built by John A. Bell who constructed the Fairbairn and McCarty homes that are also on the tour, the church
was recently nominated for inclusion on the list of “Colorado’s Most Endangered Places.” Newly roofed and still in use, the church is the cornerstone of Berthoud’s downtown district. The Zoller Shoe Shop at 315 Mountain Ave. Local lore has it that this modest frame structure was “wheeled up” from Berthoud’s original site on the Little Thompson river bottom to the town’s present-day location in the winter of 1883-84. Home to many businesses over the years — including Jake Zoller’s Shoe Shop for five decades — this little building that will soon become an antique store is representative of Berthoud’s commercial development in the early days.
WHAT TO KNOW:
Saturday, June 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets: • Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum, 224 Mountain Ave. • McCartyFickel Home house museum at 645 Seventh St. • Berthoud Historical Society ticket tent at southeast corner of Fickel Park. • The homes, church and business building featured on the tour. Admission: $10 BHS members — $12 non-members. All proceeds benefit the Berthoud Historical Society. Call the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum at 970-532-2147 for more information.