Gypsum, Colorado was first settled in 1881, German immigrant William Schliff being one of the first settlers to build a house on the future town site. The town was slow to grow at first: the erection of a tent by a one O.W. Daggett (of Daggett Ditch fame) along Gypsum Creek in 1882 was still noteworthy enough to enter the historical record, and Gypsum still only had a population of 50 by 1888.Grow and prosper the town of Gypsum did though: the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad laid tracks through Gypsum in the mid 1880s, the first automobile in Eagle Valley was purchased by George Price of Gypsum in 1903, and even President Theodore Roosevelt made a swing through the area on a hunting trip in 1905 (Roosevelt declined a special hunting permit written by the Governor of Colorado, pointing out that it would 'violate the game laws of Colorado' - seems some members of today's executive branch would do well to heed his illustrious example).
The Town of Gypsum, Colorado incorporated on October 17, 1911.
Sources: city-data.com, townofgypsum.com |