Historical Commission Corner
History of Oliver Toussaint Jackson
In an homage to Black History Month, we focus on an extraordinary effort by an exceptional person. Boulder restaurateur Oliver Toussaint Jackson created a self-sustaining settlement of African Americans on the dry lands east of Greeley. After founding the town of Dearfield in 1910, hundreds of African Americans moved to the property to farm and raise livestock. The town, so named because the residents were thought of as “dear” people, grew in population throughout the Great War. By 1920, it had a population of 200 or more residents.
O.T. Jackson in his capacity as advisor to Colorado governors. Photo courtesy of Denver Public Library.
With over 40 buildings, including family homes, churches, schools, a store and gas station, and even a concrete brick factory, Dearfield had all the accouterments of a typical town on the high prairie. Over the years, many of the men, including Jackson, would work in Denver then ride the Union Pacific train to a small-town depot about a mile from Dearfield, spending the weekend working the fields.
The onset of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years did not bode well for this noble venture. Jackson experimented with holding dances and weekend escapes to Dearfield with some success for a brief time. By 1940, only twelve residents remained.
Courtesy Denver Public Library.
No doubt O.T. Jackson was crushed by the town's failure. Born to free parents in Ohio in 1862 and inspired by the writings of Booker T. Washington, Jackson headed west and eventually landed in Boulder. There, he operated an oyster bar, a hotel and managed the Chautauqua dining room. He and his wife Sadie resided in the 2000 block of Pine Street in Boulder. For a while, they operated “Jackson’s Resort” at today’s 55th and Arapaho streets. Later O.T. was an aide to the governors of Colorado, residing in Denver and commuting to Dearfield on weekends. He died there in 1948.
 This colorful postcard advertised Jackson’s Resort, later called Roxburg Park, at 55th and Arapaho east of Boulder.
Photo courtesy of Carnegie Library for local history, Boulder.
Today, some derelict buildings and a highway sign reading Dearfield on U.S. highway 36 are all that remain of the experimental town. However, it is now on Colorado’s Most Endangered Places list, and has caught the attention of the Black History Museum, the National Park Service and two history professors from the University of Northern Colorado. The hope is that Mr. Jackson’s dream outpost can be rescued from the dust of the prairie.
Historical Commission Happenings
Here are some “save the dates” for upcoming Commission activities:
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March 2: Grasso Bungalow Museum open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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April 17: Shootout at the Superior Depot – A Battle in the Colorado Labor Wars, presented by Larry Dorsey. Superior Town Hall starting at 7 p.m.
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May 4: Historic Walk to the Industrial Mine site from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m.
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The new replacement Historical Museum is taking shape in Asti Park. We are excited to see such progress. We are hoping for a late spring, early summer completion.
Did You Know That:
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The area from approximately 18th Street east to 24th Street (today’s Folsom Street) and from Arapaho Avenue to Water Street (Canyon Boulevard today) was known as the “Little Rectangle”? Also known as the Goss – Gove District, most of Boulder’s African American and Hispanic citizens lived in this area.
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William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody died in Denver in January of 1917? Dying and nearly broke, he migrated to his sister’s home there at a doctor’s suggestion that the clean air and good water would help in his waning years. He was buried on Lookout Mountain near Golden because he could not afford transportation to the town he created, Cody, Wyoming.
- The town of Lochbuie along I-76, named for an area in Scotland, was once called Space City? That name was a contraction of “Spacious City,” the name of a mobile home park there.
For more information about the Historical Commission and its activities, contact Commission Liaison Jennifer “JG” Garner at 303-499-3675, ext. 167, Commission Chair Larry Dorsey at 303-499-1969, or just click on the “Historical Commission Info” button below.
Written by Larry Dorsey, proofed by Dorothy Mahan.
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