Neighborhood History
Courtesy of John and Kathy Sperling
Introduction
Some time ago you'd asked for some photos and history of Heritage Meadows. I've included some. Kathy has put together a whole notebook of "stuff". We even got a copy of the original Homestead Patent from 1864 from the National Archives. Hope this is fun for everyone.
These photos are from 2109 9th Avenue from the Assessor's Office Card in the early 40's. 9th Avenue is now Iris Avenue.
Photos with John and Kathy's Commentary
(Click on an image to see it in full size)
The barn of the Meadows Ranch (now 2140 Jonathan Place (the silo is not visible in the photo but remains on the north side of the old barn/now home). Where there is someone standing in the doorway still remains a door. The barn with it's original 8" concrete walls now completely covered with "modern materials" was the office for the developer of Heritage Meadows while the homes in the subdivision were being built.
The home (now 2130 Jonathan Place built in 1900). This view of the home is now not visible (you'd be standing in Iris Avenue) and the rock wall is gone but the fireplace remains, the roofed porch is now an enclosed greenhouse, and the set of three tall divided light windows are now a kitchen.
The garage in the background of the second photo and in the third photo with the driveway (that is now the master bedroom for 2130 Jonathan Place due to an addition and complete remodel of the original 1900 home performed in 1982 as part of the development of Heritage Meadows) remains as an outbuilding on the east side of 2140 Jonathan Place property.
The milk house. This additional freestanding building is also a poured concrete structure with a date marked above the door 1942 and a copy of the brand: J. The J lazy V was the brand of the ranch. The Meadows Ranch which Jack and Vera DeVidts (buried in Green Mountain Cemetery) owned for 40 years. Western Horseman magazine credited the Meadows Ranch as being the largest breeders of Appalossa in the United States. The DeVidts are credited with creating the term Rodeo to describe a wild west show in a July 25, 1970 Daily Camera article. Jack and Vera were famous rodeo stars and competitors of Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. The DeVidts performed for the King of Belguim at the Brussels World Fair in 1910 and performed for six months in London with 125 people in the troop including 42 indians, 50 horses, 40 steers, and 15 buffalo. Vera ultimately sold Heritage Ranch to Ralph Hofele in 1977 who platted the ten acres into Heritage Meadows Subdivision.
Additional Notes
The Ranch was a portion of the original Homestead in 1864 by James Bateman (born in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1830) who came to Colorado in 1860 ranching on the homestead till 1890. He was described as "sober, honest, and upright".
The 1885 Colorado Census describes: The 160 acre farm in 1884 produced 300 eggs, 300 bushels oats, 300 bushels wheat, and 55 tons of hay. In 1885 of the 160 acres 20 were "grain" (oats and wheat) while 136 were meadow. The remaining 4 acres included the farm (now 2130 Jonathan Place) where Bateman lived. Bateman's property was valued at $7,000 with $100 of farm implements and $1,500 in livestock (9 horses, 4 mules, 4 milk cows, and 50 poultry).
James Bateman sold the farm in 1890 and moved "into town" in the Brainerd Hotel where he died in 1898 and was buried in Columbia (Pioneer) Cemetery. He has an exceptionally large headstone as having no relatives in Colorado there was little else to spend his funds on.
It appears that between 1910 and 1927 the area was part of a fruit farm between now Iris and 19th.
The Carnegie Branch Library for Local History provided much of this information. There are diaries by James Bateman spanning his time in Boulder. Weather, purchases, and egg sales feature prominently in the daily entries although in 1872 he paid 25 cents to have two teeth pulled. Silvia Pettem, famed Boulder Historian and Author, secured the original homestead papers and researched much of the later information we know about the property.