Palmer Lake Historical Society, Feb. 15 – Union Printers Home: past, present, and future

By Marlene Brown

The monthly meeting of The Palmer Lake Historical Society (PLHS) held at the Palmer Lake Townhall on Feb. 15 was a PowerPoint presentation by Ellie Hinkle, director of History and Archives for the Union Printers Home (UPH). Located in Colorado Springs on Union Boulevard near Memorial Park, it has been dubbed “The Castle on the Hill.” The building was dedicated in 1892. (See photo postcard circa. 1940s.)

**Above:** 1940s postcard picturing the Union Printers Home. *Courtesy UPH*

The building was built as a place for rest, recovery, and retirement for the workers of the International Typographical Union (ITU). Many union printers suffered from “printers’ lung” caused by the fumes of lead-based ink and confining working conditions. The original building has been added onto and other buildings were built on the grounds. What started as The Castle on 25 acres grew to over 20 buildings on 300 acres, including a dairy farm and vegetable gardens, and UPH was self-sustaining for many decades. UPH housed up to 400 residents, some were medical patients and other aged union printers from all over the U.S. and the world. Over the years with a declining population, it opened to non-union printer residents and was sold to a private nursing home group. The facility was closed in 2020. See unionprintershome.com/history.

In 2021, a group of local investors bought UPH, looking to preserve the legacy of The Castle. What they found were buildings full of historical artifacts that needed to be stored and preserved. Much of Hinkle’s job, up to the present, has been to retrieve and clean up and catalog the contents of the buildings, while working with the new owners to come up with a plan.

What is their redevelopment plan? To create a diverse entertainment and educational community and to enhance the surrounding neighborhoods. Sports events, concerts, shops, food courts, office space, farmers markets, museums, and art galleries are planned (See Unionprintershome.com/vision). It could take 10 years or more to see their vision in the final stages, but for the 130-year-old building it could bring new life.

**Above:** Roger Davis, Lucretia Vaile Museum director and curator, left, and Ellie Hinkle, speaker and director of History and Archives for the Union Printers Home. Photo by Marlene Brown.

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PLHS holds monthly historically informative meetings, usually on the third Thursday at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are open and free to the public. Next month, Michael Weinfeld and John Howe will present “The History of Monument Cemetery Founded in 1886” on March 21. For more information about upcoming events and membership information, go to www.palmerdividehistory.org.

Marlene Brown can be reached by email at marlenebrown@ocn.me.

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