I have long been interested in the old bronze historic plaques found around Colorado. I had no idea how many there were until I
started "bagging" mountain passes for the Colorado BMW Club's Pass Bagger 50 award and found ten of the bronze plaques at various
summits on mountain roads. Some research on the internet and at the
History Colorado Center turned up a little over 100 bronze
plaques spread across the state. Most of them, now historic in their own right, are still there. Others have disappeared.
Many of the bronze plaques were funded by the Mrs. J. N. Hall Foundation, the William A. Braiden Fund, and the Robert S. Ellison Fund.
Government agencies, local organizations, and others also provided financial support for the markers. Show below are the bronze plaques
I have found so far, along with 2nd generation wooden makers, 3rd generation 2-panel and 4-panel markers, and other information and references.
- Randy Bishop, Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Plaques at Colorado Mountain Passes
Berthoud, Cameron, Cochetopa, Cumbres, Fremont, Gore, Hoosier, Kenosha,
Old La Veta, Old Monarch, Old Rabbit Ears, Raton, Red Mountain, Tennessee, and Ute Passes
Updated June 11, 2017
Northwest Colorado - The Old West
Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Jackson, Moffat, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, and Routt Counties
Updated May 25, 2017
North Central Colorado - The Rich Earth
Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Clear Creek, Douglas, Gilpin, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld Counties
Updated February 15, 2018
Northeast Colorado - High Plains Country
Cheyenne, Elbert, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma Counties
Updated September 17, 2022
Southwest Colorado - Trail of the Padres
Archuleta, Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mesa, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, San Juan, and San Miguel Counties
Updated September 17, 2022
Southeast Colorado - Arkansas Trade Routes
Baca, Bent, Crowley, Custer, El Paso, Fremont, Heurfano, Las Animas, Otero, Prowers, Pueblo, and Teller Counties
Updated November 3, 2021
Colorado County Map
Mrs. J. N. Hall Foundation Historical Plaques
The following excerpted from "GOLD!" an article by Contributing Editor Bill Pierson
in "Colorado Medicine" magazine, Volume 100, Number 4, June 2003.
Dr. Josiah N. Hall, one of the well known physician members of the Colorado Medical Society, had a great love for the
history of his adopted state. Dr. Hall (Archives Colorado Medicine, Vol. 94, No. 12; p. 460) came west from Harvard Medical
School in 1883, looking first at Denver, but then deciding on the little plains town of Sterling, population 250. Dr. Hall
practiced until 1936 and died in December, 1939. Dr. Hall was an active member of the Colorado Historical Society and he
traveled the state in all directions on his frequent hunting trips. Dr. Hall was a prodigious writer, and his last book was
about the early day practice of medicine in Colorado. Dr. Hall chose to do something for his wife, Carrie, and he created the
“Mrs. J. N. Hall Foundation,” which provided funds for a series of historical marker plaques placed at notable locations around the state.
William A. Braiden Fund Historical Plaques
Apparently William A. Braiden was a rancher and banker from the San Luis Valley, a leader of the American National Cattleman's
Association, and an alternate delegate to 1940 Republican National Convention from Colorado.
Other References
History Colorado's Stephen H. Hart Research Center.
(Formerly, History Colorado's historic marker database was the latest, most authoritative reference for the
current status of the plaques and markers. I need to check with them to see if it can still be accessed.)
The Colorado Magazine, "Tales Told with Markers", Volume 47, Number 3, Summer 1970.
"Denver's Historical Markers, Memorials, Statues, and Parks", compiled by Agnes Wright Spring, State Historian, 1959.
"Markers, Plaques, Monuments, Memorials, and Statues in Colorado", compiled by Agnes Wright Spring, State Historian, 1953.
Colorado Medicine, "Gold", by Bill Pierson, Volume 100, Number 4, July 2003.
The WPA Guide to 1930s Colorado, University Press of Kansas, ISBN 0-7006-0342-5, 1941, 1987.
If you know of other History Colorado (Colorado Historical Society) markers, especially the old bronze ones,
please e-mail bishoprl AT earthlink.net, with subject line "Colorado Historical Markers". Thanks.
