By Victor Block
Stepping off the train after a short ride from a modern metropolis, the visitor is immediately introduced to a world that no longer exists. More than 50 houses, business establishments, churches and other buildings provide an introduction to small-town America during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
A tiny, rustic log home built in 1861 by a farmer is dwarfed by a larger dairy spread that was operated several decades later by five sisters. A general store where Native Americans traded in the late 1800s stands near a little depot where trains of the fabled Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway once deposited passengers and freight. Colorfully named establishments from the past include the Rough and Ready Flour Mill and the First and Last Chance Saloon.
This is the setting that greets passengers disembarking from the light rail trains that connect Denver with aptly named Littleton, Colorado, 20 minutes away in time but more than a century removed in atmosphere. Whether seeing the town during a day trip from the nearby city or staying longer to bask in its nostalgia, the experience is akin to entering a Norman Rockwell painting of life as it used to be and in ways still is in this time capsule of history.
The first view of Littleton that people arriving by train encounter is displayed on a 40-foot-wide mural on a wall of the station platform. Painted by a local artist in folk-art style, the colorful composition depicts more than 50 historic structures, some long gone and others still standing.
The seeds of the settlement portrayed in the wall painting were planted in 1859, when the Pikes Peak Gold Rush attracted miners to the community, along with merchants and farmers who came to supply and feed them. Two years later an engineer from New Hampshire named Richard Little arrived to work on an irrigation project, then brought out his wife from the East. He later laid out the plan for the town that bears his name.
Since that modest birth, Littleton has expanded into a suburban community of about 42,000 residents that covers 13 square miles. For visitors, the action and interest are centered around a several-block stretch of Main Street that richly deserves its recognition on the National Register of Historic Places.
A walking tour of local landmarks following a route described in a booklet available on the website and around town is a good way to take in a number of historic buildings and get a feel for the setting. The journey begins at the light-rail depot, a Victorian-style stone building constructed in 1875. Another train station, the Santa Fe Depot, was active from 1888 until1967. Today it and an 1898-vintage caboose parked next door serve as an art gallery.
The tower of the Columbine Mill, built in 1901 as a grain elevator and storage facility for the Rough and Ready Flour Mill, looks out over the town from its lofty height. The charming Louthan House (circa 1905-09) is named for its builder, who constructed dozens of homes in town. Today it houses the Cafe Terracotta, one of a number of outstanding local restaurants that make Littleton a mini-magnet for foodies.
Shopping also has a local focus, with an array of small stores sure to fulfill any whim and fancy. Two personal favorites were indicative of the wide choice, with appeal to people of all ages.
Reinke Bros. is a Halloween and costume superstore with a focus on ghosts, goblins and ghouls. Strolling through the twisted tangle of aisles brings shoppers face-to-face with skulls, skeletons and other merchandise, some larger than life, that ranges from fun to frightening. The ultimate gross-out is a supermarket meat counter stocked with replicas of aptly named body parts including "lady fingers," "cheating heart" and "rump roast."
A much sweeter experience awaits at Lola's Sugar Rush, where glass jars display more than 700 kinds of candy in every imaginable color, shape and flavor. Treats that were popular from the 1940s to '70s provide a touch of sugary nostalgia for anyone whose sweet tooth can recall that time. As many adults as children often crowd into the little corner shop, taking advantage of free tastings of candy that resembles olives, cola bottles, alligators, penguins and countless other shapes and sizes.
Walking in town also provides close-up and personal introductions to the public art that has transformed sidewalks, streets and other settings into a virtual outdoor showcase. Some three dozen sculptures, plus friezes, paintings and other works of art adorn sidewalks, buildings and parks.
One sculpture titled "Life's Lessons" depicts a boy engrossed in a large book. "Year of Shows" resembles a family at leisure. Sculpted metal wagon wheels placed along Main Street do double duty as art and bicycle racks.
Not to be outdone by art aficionados, theatergoers are drawn to the Town Hall Arts Center. Over time that elaborately decorated Italian Renaissance building has housed the town offices, volunteer fire department, court and jail. It's now the site of live theater productions, concerts and other cultural offerings.
A very different aspect of the past is explored at the Littleton Museum. In keeping with its name, that institution has permanent exhibits that trace the area's history from the time when Arapaho, Cheyenne and Ute Native Americans passed through to the pioneer era to more recent days. Its role as an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, along with the attractions of two living-history farms, are among reasons why it's ranked among the most outstanding history museums in the country.
The favorite attractions for most visitors are two living-history settings that re-create farm life in the 1860s and 1890s. The older spread represents a pioneer homestead during the area's settlement period. Wandering from a modest — and modestly furnished — cabin to a reconstructed log barn, sitting at a desk in a one-room schoolhouse and chatting with a blacksmith as he toils at his trade increased my appreciation for modern-day amenities that are often taken for granted.
Adding to the realistic setting are costumed interpreters who demonstrate chores such as quilting, plowing and cooking over a fire. A virtual zoos-who of farm animals, including oxen, mules, sheep, chickens, honeybees and the biggest, most ornery-looking hog I've encountered anywhere enhance the realistic setting. Also adding authenticity are livestock, crops and plants that were common during the time period represented.
While not the major attraction at the Hudson Gardens, it also boasts a collection of beehives that held as much interest as the extensive plantings themselves. Not that areas devoted to roses, herbs, fragrance and nearly two dozen other floral themes aren't eye-catching and aromatic, or that signs identifying displays with names such as Balloon Flower and Fat Albert don't elicit a smile.
It's just that when a town resident is on hand to attend to one of the 20 or so hives that locals are allowed to place in the garden, visitors are likely to learn more than they thought possible about the lifestyle of bees — and to find the information more intriguing than they probably imagined. The hierarchy of hive bees, assignment of tasks and other tidbits left me bee-lieving that those little insects live in one of the most structured societies of any creature.
If learning that there are nearly 20,000 species of bees isn't your cup of honey, perhaps indulging your sugar craving at Lola's offers a sweeter appeal. Should strolling through a town with its feet planted firmly in the past sound less than scintillating, maybe reliving farm life from a bygone era will grab your attention. Whatever your interests, you probably can find enough to fulfill them only a short train ride from downtown Denver.
WHEN YOU GO
For more information: www.littletongov.org or 303-795-3700
Victor Block is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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