Historical Marker
The Denver Pacific Railway
Nunn, Weld County · Colorado
Erected by State Highway Department, Department of Game, Fish and Parks, and the State Historical Society of Colorado from the Mrs. J. N. Hall endowment, 1965
The smallest words on this board are about the board. BUILT BY C.S.P. 7-65, routed at its lower right, credits the Colorado State Penitentiary, whose shop made the Society's wooden markers; this one was cut in July 1965. Its text makes the railroad's case in one breath: the Union Pacific chose Wyoming, Denver was losing people, and a connecting line to Cheyenne, financed with a federal land grant instead of bonds, kept the territory alive. Its agents sold the grant to settlers such as Greeley's Union Colony, and the Union Pacific absorbed it in 1880.
What the plaque says
The Denver Pacific Railway When the Union Pacific Railroad decided to go through Wyoming instead of through Colorado, many people moved from the territory; Denver itself was shrinking. Former Governor John Evans rescued Colorado Territory by promoting a connecting railroad from Denver to Cheyenne. The new railroad received no federal bond subsidy as had the Union Pacific, but Congress provided a generous land grant to encourage investment. Grading began in 1868, and the road was completed in June, 1870. The tracks ran through this point. Denver Pacific agents encouraged settlers to purchase land on the company's grant, and Horace Greeley supported the idea of an agricultural colony in the pages of his New York Tribune. The Union Colony at Greeley (1870) was one result of these efforts. In 1880 the Denver Pacific was absorbed by the Union Pacific. Erected by the State Highway Department, by the Department of Game, Fish, and Parks, and by the State Historical Society of Colorado from the Mrs. J. N. Hall endowment.
Where it stands
40.71005, -104.78168 · Directions