Great Western Reservoir

Photograph

Broomfield History Collections

Name/Title

Entry/Object ID

1979.1.6

Description

A photo of the Great Western Reservoir. There are a large number of people, men and women, present which would indicate some sort of celebration. There are two busses from the Denver-Boulder bus company visible along with a number of private vehichles. The view is looking southwest. (b/w) See 1987.24.226 Label from 2021 Exhibit: “Birth of a City” - The Turnpike Land Company’s Big Plans Visitors to the Great Western Reservoir, c. 1956 The Front Range has a dry climate, with water needing to come from elsewhere to support farming and concentrations of people. In 1955, the very first paragraph of the new Broomfield Builder (a newsletter published by the Turnpike Land Co.) assured readers that enough water had been secured through the purchase of the Great Western Reservoir. They claimed that the new development, “has a reservoir big enough for a population of 30,500 for a year and a half if never a drop was added.” Prospective buyers were invited to tour the reservoir and other facilities. This photo may have been taken at the May 9, 1956 Realtors tour, in which more than 400 Denver real estate agents were taken around Broomfield in tour buses, including a stop at the reservoir, water treatment plant, and sewage treatment plant. In the 1990s, the Great Western Reservoir would be found to have been contaminated by the nearby Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant (built in 1952 and a large employer in the area). 1979.1.6 Gift of Empire Savings Bank

Collection

Permanent Collection

Made/Created

Place

Location

U.S.A./Colorado/Broomfield/Broomfield Heights

Notes

Medium: Photographic Paper Copy/Orig/Other: Copy

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Print, Photographic

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Photograph

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Automobiles, Buses, Ceremonies, License plates, Men & women, Mountains, Reservoirs, Water

Relationships

Related Entries

Notes

1979.1.16, 1979.1.17.a, 1979.1.17.b, 1979.1.18.b, 1979.1.18a, 1979.1.19, 1979.1.20, 1979.1.21.a-b, 1979.1.22, 1979.1.23, 1979.1.24, 1979.1.25a, 1979.1.25b, 1979.1.25c, 1979.1.26, 1979.1.27, 1979.1.28, 1979.1.29, 1979.1.30, 1979.1.31, 1979.1.32, 1979.1.33, 1979.1.34, 1979.1.35, 1979.1.36, 1979.1.37.a, 1979.1.37b, 1979.1.38, 1979.1.4, 1979.1.5, 1979.1.7

Provenance

Notes

Chris Deits donated photos to the museum on January 25, 1979. 37 photos came in with the collection. 13 photos were given the number 79.1.3