Depot Museum Grew from the Dedication of Many to Preserve the Memories of Broomfield By Kristen Beckman
“Have you ever heard the expression “You start out carrying a calf and end up carrying a cow?” asked Karen McGuire, the Broomfield Depot Museum’s first director, when asked about the museum’s beginnings.
T
he metaphor aptly describes the effort that went into moving the aging railroad depot building built in 1909 a mile down the road and turning it into a museum that now holds memories and artifacts representing more than 100 years of Broomfield history. “We started out small,” recalled McGuire. “We had no idea what it was going to turn into.” The museum’s journey from a depot serving the Colorado & Southern Railroad, to a historical landmark was only possible through the perseverance of McGuire, Peggy Atkinson, and a host of dedicated volunteers, not to mention the city, which supported the effort. In 1975, C&S Railroad sold the building to the Broomfield Jaycees for $1 on the condition the city would move the building, and so the building was loaded onto a flatbed truck and driven to its current location at Zang Spur Park.
McGuire and her husband were involved in the building’s move and resurrection as a museum thanks to her husband’s interest in railroads as a former railroad worker himself who came from a family of railroaders in Nebraska. The couple lived just a few blocks from the depot while it was still in operation, and McGuire’s husband and station attendant Herb Rutledge had become friends. After the building was moved, McGuire and her husband joined the newly established Broomfield Historical Society, which had the vision to turn the relocated building into a museum that chronicled not only the history of the depot and railroad, but also of Broomfield and its earliest residents. “There was no money for anybody to be paid to work there, so we were all volunteers,” said McGuire. “We had bake sales and book sales and we sold fruit cakes over the years. We had amazing volunteers that would come in their old jeans and strip paint off of things. It was a lot of work for a lot of people - dedicated people that hung in there for a lot of years.” McGuire interviewed many of Broomfield’s founding residents to preserve their memories. She recalls interviewing Joe Huddart, owner of the Broomfield Lumber Company from 1924 to 1985, We had bake sales and book sales and we sold fruit cakes over the years. We had amazing volunteers that would come in their old jeans and strip paint off of things. It was a lot of work for a lot of people - dedicated people that hung in there for a lot of years.”
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Our Broomfield™ Magazine | August 2021
