Sign Up  /  Login

Lakewood Jail LbNA #66660

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Mar 28, 2014
Location:
City:Nederland
County:Boulder
State:Colorado
Boxes:1
Planted by:nedhead
Found by: Lost Sailor
Last found:Oct 22, 2021
Status:FFFFF
Last edited:Mar 28, 2014
Lakewood Jail

The original town of Lakewood, Colorado was built by the Primos Mining & Milling Company to house its mill and mine workers. Lakewood was a few miles north of Nederland, Colorado, and had all the amenities – houses, a theatre, saloons, and a jail. The Primos Mill, built in 1908, dominated the town because of its sheer size – it was the largest tungsten mill in the world in the early 1900s, working the tungsten from the nearby Conger Mine. Tungsten put near-by Nederland on the map, surpassing gold and silver. Chauncey F. Lake was the manager of the Conger Mine and the resident manager of the Primos Mill. The thirty residences built on the land that was once the ranch of Thomas Hill became known as Lakewood. Today only Lakewood Reservoir and the jail remain.
After the U.S. started importing tungsten from China, the Primos Company disappeared. The Vanadium Corporation of America purchased the Primos properties in 1920 and sold the town of Lakewood to L.W. Wells, a Boulder mine equipment dealer. Wells dismantled ALL the residences and outbuildings, the mill and its machinery. Today only a few foundations and the jail remain.

(Denver Public Library, #: K-356; http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15330coll22/id/73944)

To find the Lakewood Jail, travel 2.8 miles north on Highway 72 from the roundabout in Nederland. On your right is Cold Spring Road. Turn here and stop on the shoulder at the “Posted” sign (on the right) immediately after you turn. If you look behind you or exit your vehicle, you can see the remains of the Primos Mill across the highway. All that remains is a long concrete foundation, and further up the hill, a large, vertical concrete block.

Return to your vehicle and continue on Cold Spring Road, across the first bridge. Park on the left, the parking area *between* the bridges. There is room for only one vehicle. Exit your vehicle and walk across the second bridge and up the road (towards the east), to the small stone structure with “open air” doors and windows. Welcome to the Lakewood Jail!

Behind the jail is a large ponderosa pine tree with a large boulder under it. Your treasure resides behind the boulder (to the west). Please replace carefully.