Wahl Ranch - Jefferson, CO
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 23.496 W 105° 47.219
13S E 432230 N 4360529
This is still a working ranch and private property, so all photos taken from the roadway. Also known as the Hyatt Ranch, it was homesteaded in 1883 by Thomas Hyatt.
Waymark Code: WMPNKR
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 09/27/2015
Views: 1
"The ranch complex is located at the western foot of Kenosha Pass. Construction dates for the wide variety of log and wood frame buildings and structures remaining on the property range from 1883 to 1948. The 116 acre district encompasses most of the land originally homesteaded by Thomas Hyatt in 1883. Subsequently, this area functioned as the headquarters for the more than 1,100 acre ranching operation of William H. Lilly. Cattle raising remained the focus of operations even after many other South Park ranchers switched to raising sheep. The Wahl family’s association with the ranch dates from the mid-1920s through the deaths of Albert and Ada Wahl in 1993." (from (
visit link) )
"Thomas Hyatt
The headquarters area of the Wahl-Coleman Ranch was removed from the public domain by Thomas Hyatt in a Cash Entry Patent received 27 July 1889. Hyatt, a native of Great Britain, came to the United States as a minor and became a naturalized American citizen in June 1882.
Before coming to Park County, he worked as a butcher in Denver, had property in Park County by 1880, and settled on the land in question on 13 August 1883. He paid John McCall, who had been living at the site, one hundred dollars to relinquish his claim. The tracks of the Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad, constructed in 1879, lay a tenth of a mile to the east following the alignment of today's alignment of U.S. 285.
In testimony supporting his land claim in February 1887, Hyatt described the property: "part is hilly and part prairie. It is most valuable for grazing." He began raising hay every season and produced about seventy-five tons yearly on sixty acres of land. The land was irrigated by a ditch. In 1885, Hyatt owned 160 acres of improved land, four milk cows, and produced 400 pounds of butter. The following year he planted about one acre in turnips and produced about two tons of the crop. The rancher raised forty to sixty acres of hay each year on the land. By 1887, Hyatt had a substantial investment in ranch machinery and livestock, including three mowers, two rakes, three wagons, twenty-five head of cattle, eight horses, and a flock of chickens.
Thomas Hyatt lived on the ranch with his wife, Emma, and their seven minor children. Hyatt made considerable improvements on the land between 1883 and 1887. He lived in a cabin on the property (perhaps erected by McCall) while building "a good 6 room frame house" between August and November 1883. The house was 16' X 32', with a lean-to addition of 12' X 40'. Hyatt also erected three stables, an outhouse, a well, a corral, and fencing. Hyatt estimated the value of his property at about $1,050 in 1887." (excerpted from Section 8, pages 10-11, (
visit link) )
The NRHP Form may be found at (
visit link) .