By Marlene Brown
The Palmer Lake Historical Society (PLHS) held its monthly membership meeting at the Palmer Lake Town Hall on Oct. 17. Longtime resident of the Palmer Divide area and friend of the PLHS Jack Anthony, and his wife Margo, explained how they were able to get the Palmer Lake Star and the Palmer Lake Town Hall placed on the Register of Historic Places on behalf of PLHS.
The Colorado State Register program is administered by the Office of Archeology and Historic preservation within History Colorado, which maintains the official list of historic properties. See historycolorado.org/Colorado-state-register-historic-properties.
The Palmer Lake Star
First they applied to have the Palmer Lake Star be accepted and then the Town Hall. The Town of Palmer Lake, the owner of the star, and Mayor Nikki McDonald consented to have Jack Anthony apply to History Colorado in October 2012, and the application was approved by the Review Board in January 2013.
The star was constructed in 1935. It took three months initially to build by several volunteers including Gilbert Wolf, Floyd Bellinger, George Sill, and Jesse Krueger and sons Orville, Kenny and Harry. After many tries and work-arounds with the technology of the day, the star was lit in mid-December 1935 and every year since from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1 and on special occasions.
The Krueger sons were tasked every year to hike up Sundance Mountain where the star resides and change burned-out lightbulbs. Later the Volunteer Fire Department took on the maintenance of the star and now holds a chili supper fundraiser the Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Town Hall to raise money for replacing wires and poles as needed. The star has been viewed and enjoyed by travelers between Denver and Colorado Springs.
Palmer Lake Town Hall
Palmer Lake was established in 1883 and was a stop for the railroads to load with supplies and water for continuing on to Denver or Colorado Springs. The Town Hall was built in 1914 and has gone through some renovations to bring the electrical and plumbing to code over the years, but the town has kept the original design in place. It has been home to the Yule Log Celebration every year since 1933. The celebration has become a community tradition and keeps the history alive. See townofpalmerlake.com for this year’s information.
Jack Anthony applied May 31, 2019 to History Colorado have the Town Hall be placed on the Register of Historic Properties, and that was approved Sept. 25, 2019. See historycolorado.org/Colorado-state-register-historic-properties. Upon approval, the town became eligible to apply for grants for maintenance and upgrades.
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PLHS is a nonprofit 501C3 and holds regular meetings at the Town Hall, 42 Crescent Valley St., Palmer Lake, on the third Thursday of the month. Membership information and future presentations can found at palmerdividehistory.org.
Marlene Brown can be reached at marlenebrown@ocn.me.
Other Palmer Lake Historical Society articles
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, Sep. 19 – Author focuses on Old West (10/5/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, June 6 – Book launch (7/6/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, May 18 – Colorado’s Rosie the Riveter (6/1/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, April 18 – Trolley cars, past and future (5/4/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, Mar. 21 – Presentation on Monument Cemetery (4/6/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, Feb. 15 – Union Printers Home: past, present, and future (3/2/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, Jan. 18 – Annual Potluck and Membership Meeting (2/3/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, Dec. 17 – 90th Annual Yule Log Hunt (1/6/2024)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, Oct. 19 – History of Glen Eyrie presented (11/4/2023)
- Palmer Lake Historical Society, Aug. 12: Board, members pose as historical figures (9/2/2023)