As Mace’s Hole, Beulah Valley had sheltered Indians, trappers, cattle and horse thieves and rebels, followed by Mexican sheep and cattlemen settlers. Before 1862 these first settlers had great difficulty in maintaining the position they had taken—but soon homesteaders began moving in and a general improvement followed.
Saw mills and grist mills were established; after failure—at least for the time being—of mining projects, more men took up farming under irrigation as well as stock business.
This area was further developed by men with ideas of cashing in on the beauties of the valley, the mineral springs, the atmospheric conditions; by introducing various projects for the development of summer resorts.
The beginning of the mountain town was soon after Charles Sellers of Pennsylvania, Civil War veteran, came to the valley in 1876. He taught for a while in the old log school house—did some farming; married Miss Gertrude Smith in the home of John Jacob Sease [now owned by the Buddes] and established his home on land that later became the Sellers Addition of the new town of Beulah.
The old home of Sease is the present Orman summer home on North Creek was originally this two-room log house built by Sease in the early 1860s—when Beulah was known as the Maces’ Hole. In 1881 Sellers added to his homestead by buying the David Boggs homestead. His deed from Boggs had in it the stipulation that “intoxicating liquor shall never be manufactured, sold or others dispersed as a beverage, in such case this deed shall become void.” This was included in some other deeds to land in this area.
The Sellers addition he developed as “Mt. Rebecca Park,” with its Lake Tucita for boating and fishing. The water was brought down in wooden pipes from the Pioneer ditch. It is at present the site of Gayway Park [Songbird].
Sellers’ vision of beautifying the valley led to the setting out of 4,000 trees that now shade the avenues and lanes of beautiful Beulah land. Here he lived until the end of his days.
The new town site was called Beulah Springs, since it included the mineral springs, platted and filed for record in 1887 by Major Woodford Townsend, Norman P. Richards and David Boggs; it was sometimes referred to as Soda Springs or Mineral Springs. In naming the streets, blocks and lots Townsend, an admirer of good literature, used names of historical fame and names of characters in writings of Dickens and Shakespeare. Among them were Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Falstaff, Macbeth. Equally unusual designations included Largo, Flariens, Mark Anthony, Cleopatra and Cassius. In the Dickens group one finds David Copperfield, Pickwick, Little Nell, Oliver Twist and Micawber.
The town was further developed by other additions—Whitlock’s, Martin’s, Tanglewild, Stewart Park, Mineral Springs Summer Resort and Wayland Springs that later known as the Anderson Springs.
The Pine Drive Store operated by Mrs. Salina Smith was opened in 1901. Dr. F. M Somers’ home and store [on Grand Ave.] were built in 1906; it housed a drug store, the doctor’s office, telephone and a newspaper office as he edited “The Breeze” in 1909. Dr. George J. Blakely at one time published a newspaper in Beulah. Other doctors of Beulah’s early days were Littrell, Marshall, Blake, and Crawford.
Considerable change has been made in the businesses of this valley since the early days of “store” and “hotel.” There are grocers, general merchandise and hardware stores, an inn, restaurant, laundry, garage, a ranger station and two churches, and a well-equipped school besides hundreds of homes, for it has long been a summer resort for people from many surrounding states as well as for people of Colorado.
In fact, Beulah has become the largest among the many well-known recreation centers, public picnic and camping grounds, excursion points, resorts and summer homes area in Pueblo County.
The City of Pueblo maintains a 600-acre mountain park in the higher Beulah area, where about 300 persons can be accommodated in the barracks [Horseshoe Lodge].
In 1937 the Rural Electrification Association [San Isabel Electric Association] was organized followed by a volunteer fire department.
The first school was in 1871 when Miss Eliza Davis, who later became the wife of Hammond Pollard, conducted a subscription school in her valley home.
John Jacob Sease donated land in the center of the valley and logs for the building of the 1876 organized District 14 Beulah school house. An early teacher was Susan Sease. The site on [8695] Pine Drive of this old log school building later was built on by the Beulah Country Club.
Rev. Asbury H. Quillian of Georgia settled in the St. Charles river valley in 1870 and soon began holding preaching services in the home of Columbus Murray; later for a few years, services were held on North Creek in the old Grange Hall. At that time it was also used as a school and community house.
In 1872 Rev. Quillen organized the Southern Methodist Church. The log school house was the meeting place of the first quarterly conference in 1879. At this conference, David Boggs offered land for a church building, no water being available it was built on land of John Jacob Sease. The dedication was held on July 4, 1885. The cowboys of the 3-R Ranch donated the bell. The parsonage was built three years later.
In more recent years the congregation reorganized and called it the Methodist Community Church. In 1902 both buildings were moved to the present site, on land donated by Maj. Woodford Townsend.
The Beulah Cemetery was first used on June 20, 1869, for burial of Mary Sease, a niece of J. J. Sease. In 1889 it was enlarged by gifts of an acre by Sease and one-half acre by L.A. Mansfield.
Beulah News Items: Edward G. Donley of Indiana came to Colorado in 1879, settled in Beulah three years later, where he met and married Miss Flora Bell Bottoroff, also of Indiana, who settled in the Beulah area with her family in 1876. Mr. Donley, a well-known cattleman and rancher homesteaded land west of Pueblo in the Arkansas Valley in 1899. The year before Mr. Donley’s death in 1944, they had celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Mrs. Donley died in 1952.
Charles T. Klipfel came with his parents from Grant City, MO, to Beulah in 1882. He bought his home ranch in 1906, carried on extensive livestock and ranching business. Lived in Beulah area for 58 years. Member of Beulah Methodist Church. Buried in Beulah Cemetery.
1949 – A new organ was installed in the Beulah Methodist Church and is making other improvements, including a heating plant in the enlarged sanctuary. A Catholic mission under St. Francis Xavier of Pueblo was organized in Beulah and a building erected in 1923 on the old David Boggs ranch. The summer residents have been helpful to the churches in Beulah.
The Mace’s Hole post office was established with Lewis G. Boggs as postmaster April 23, 1873. Member of this valley’s early community felt such a beautiful valley deserved a more appropriate name. In 1876 at a meeting, called for the purpose of renaming the post office, other names suggested were Glen Eden, Spruce Valley and Silver Glen. Rev. Gaylord an evangelist suggested the name Beulah; by vote this was the choice.
On Oct. 25, 1876, it was acknowledged by the U.S. Postmaster general as the new name for Mace’s Hole post office. Osage post office 1884 to 1888; Chilcot 1884 to 1890; Armour 1886 to 1923; Beulah became the post office for these communities. In the early 1870s the mail was carried by a postman on horseback from Canon City along Hardscrabble Creek over North Creek pass through Mace’s Hole out of the valley by way of Dotson’s ranch then called Osage Post Office on to Greenhorn Post Office, a round trip of 120 miles. Postmen made the trip twice a week. In 1880 the route of wagon and post roads from Pueblo was to Meadows on the Arkansas River west of Pueblo to San Carlos Post Office, then to Beulah. That year A. W. Klipfel had the first government contract to carry mail by stage from Pueblo to Beulah. In the 1890s Tom Elliott was the first to use an automobile. He carried the mail for 17 years. Charles T. Klipfel ran a passenger stage line from Beulah to Pueblo in 1895, made the round trip in one day. The stage changed horses at the Pat Ruddy ranch at Rock Creek. v
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