Col. James Archer - Riverside Cemetery, Denver, CO
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 47.625 W 104° 57.718
13S E 503256 N 4404866
Col. James Archer, who brought gas lights and water lines to young Denver, CO
Waymark Code: WM5QFF
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 02/02/2009
Views: 12
One area that nearly every northeastern Colorado community left to private enterprise, between 1860 and 1900, was public utilities. Providing water or gas proved lucrative in the larger communities. Colonel James Archer and his Denver Gas Company and Denver Water Company were prototypes for others in Colorado. He originally came to the area with the Kansas Pacific railroad during the late 1860s. Once he saw the Queen City, Archer was convinced that this town would become the business and political center of Colorado, and possibly the Rocky Mountain West. Archer likewise felt this city was an excellent place to promote water and gas operations and to supply these necessities to the population. With help from local boosters, especially real estate magnate Walter S. Cheesman, Archer was able to get his companies started. By the early 1870s, less than fifteen years after it was founded, Colorado's capitol city had running water and gas for illumination.
Description:
Colonel James Archer helped establish Denver’s gas and water works.
Date of birth: 01/01/1824
Date of death: 01/01/1882
Area of notoriety: Politics
Marker Type: Statue
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 8 am to 5 pm
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
|
Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for waymarks in this category, you must have personally visited the waymark location. When logging your visit, please provide a note describing your visit experience, along with any additional information about the waymark or the surrounding area that you think others may find interesting.
We especially encourage you to include any pictures that you took during your visit to the waymark. However, only respectful photographs are allowed. Logs which include photographs representing any form of disrespectful behavior (including those showing personal items placed on or near the grave location) will be subject to deletion.