Monument to the Birthplace of the Cheeseburger - Denver, CO - Roadside Attractions on Waymarking.com

"The origin of hamburger is unknown, but the hamburger patty and sandwich were probably brought by 19th-century German immigrants to the United States, where in a matter of decades it came to be considered an archetypal American food.

Distinctive dining finally arrived when Louis Ballast invented the cheeseburger at his Humpty Dumpty Drive-In at the junction of Speer and Federal boulevards. Ballast experimented with different toppings for his burgers. He misfired with peanut butter and melted Hershey bars, but struck culinary gold when he blanketed his ground beef patties with American cheese slices. On March 5, 1935, Louis Ballast filed an official Application and Affidavit for Registration of a Food Trademark for the term "cheeseburger." Apparently Ballast did not succeed in trademarking and restaurants everywhere were soon serving up cheeseburgers. Ballast hung a sign in the Humpty Dumpty proclaiming it "Home of the Original Cheeseburger" and his hospitable landmark attracted tourists as well as locals. Decades later, the home of the original cheeseburger became a topless club that was cooked to ashes by fire in 1976. But the cheeseburger survives as a giant step forward on Denver's ongoing search for culinary fame. Read more at Noel: Cheeseburgers put Denver on map.

However, further research revealed, "Ballast's son, David, still has the trademark application, but he says his father was never able to ensure that the exclusivity rights to the term were ever enforced — in Colorado or anywhere else. "He didn't know what the procedure was and he couldn't t follow up to keep other people from using the word," Kid David Ballast who worked at the Barrel when he was 13." Excerpted from Culture Freak.

This as a great example to point out that a monument may or may not be accurate. But I can't stop humming "Cheeseburger in Paradise!"

The location of this small monument is the historical site of the Humpty Dumpty which burned down completely. Today you will find a parking lot here for the nearby bank.

Also Geocache GCTMR2 is at this location.

Note: This Waymark was edited to clarify trademark story (applied for but not received) and links to sources. March 5, 2010

Price of Admission: 0.00 (listed in local currency) Roadside Attractions Website: [Web Link] Weekday Hours: Not listed Weekend Hours: Not listed Location Website: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/31/2016 Go Boilers! visited it