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June 17: Dearfield and surrounding areas
Jun. 29th, 2024 08:27 pmOn the 17th, we decided to head up to Dearfield. (The link goes to the National Park Service's page about the town, and has some neat historical photos that are worth looking at!)
Dearfield was a black homesteading community founded in 1910. The dustbowl ultimately destroyed the settlement's livelihood and it was functionally abandoned, leaving only a handful of structures.
Alex and I visited it when we still lived up in Greeley, but hadn't been there in probably thirteen or fourteen years. I'd heard there was renewed interest in preserving the site a few years back, with my old university using it as a field school site. There were some funds from the state's historical fund being put into it, and I think last year or the year before it was in the running to get some additional designations and funding, though I didn't hear the outcome of that bid. (Unfortunately, since I see no mention of that on the Park Service's page, I think it likely did not get the upgraded designation.)
This monument wasn't up the last time we had visited, but I believe it went up later that same year. A brief bit about the site's history. The collapsed building behind it is the lunchroom.
Here is one of the places where the restoration work is most obvious... or, at least that restoration work was begun.
The last time we came here, the house was still on its foundation, but has now been moved up and off, I assume so that the cellar and foundation can be excavated for anything of interest, and probably ultimately strengthened to ensure structural stability.
The first time we'd visited, that was the only building we were able to enter, though we only went in a very short way because there were parts that seemed unstable.
I think the building that has been pulled up from the foundation is O.T. Jackson's home (the founder of the settlement), though I'm not completely certain. The building behind it and to the left was also clearly a residence, and has a large workshop/garage attached in the back, so it's possible that was his home and the building up front was something else.
While I'm glad to see that they were at least obviously working on the site, nothing up here looked like it was happening currently, or even terribly recently. I hope none of the projects are abandoned and that the work continues soon.
( 18 more pictures below the cut: )
Dearfield was a black homesteading community founded in 1910. The dustbowl ultimately destroyed the settlement's livelihood and it was functionally abandoned, leaving only a handful of structures.
Alex and I visited it when we still lived up in Greeley, but hadn't been there in probably thirteen or fourteen years. I'd heard there was renewed interest in preserving the site a few years back, with my old university using it as a field school site. There were some funds from the state's historical fund being put into it, and I think last year or the year before it was in the running to get some additional designations and funding, though I didn't hear the outcome of that bid. (Unfortunately, since I see no mention of that on the Park Service's page, I think it likely did not get the upgraded designation.)
This monument wasn't up the last time we had visited, but I believe it went up later that same year. A brief bit about the site's history. The collapsed building behind it is the lunchroom.
Here is one of the places where the restoration work is most obvious... or, at least that restoration work was begun.
The last time we came here, the house was still on its foundation, but has now been moved up and off, I assume so that the cellar and foundation can be excavated for anything of interest, and probably ultimately strengthened to ensure structural stability.
The first time we'd visited, that was the only building we were able to enter, though we only went in a very short way because there were parts that seemed unstable.
I think the building that has been pulled up from the foundation is O.T. Jackson's home (the founder of the settlement), though I'm not completely certain. The building behind it and to the left was also clearly a residence, and has a large workshop/garage attached in the back, so it's possible that was his home and the building up front was something else.
While I'm glad to see that they were at least obviously working on the site, nothing up here looked like it was happening currently, or even terribly recently. I hope none of the projects are abandoned and that the work continues soon.
( 18 more pictures below the cut: )
