HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/19/2017 - Landmark Preservation Commission - Supplemental Documents - Regular MeetingOAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
01/2012
COLORADO CULTURAL RESOURCES SURVEY
Historic Cultural Landscapes
Official eligibility determination
(OAHP use only)
Date Initials _________
_ Determined Eligible- NR
_ Determined Not Eligible- NR
_ Determined Eligible- SR
_ Determined Not Eligible- SR
_ Need Data
_ Eligible NR District -- contributing
_ Eligible NR District -- noncontributing
IDENTIFICATION
Property name: Alta Vista Neighborhood X historic current
other
Resource Count: 54 buildings ___ structures ___ objects ____sites
Ownership: federal state city county [X] private unknown
Owner(s) contact info: Various owners [check instructions]
Previously recorded resources associated with property (provide list of OAHP site numbers):
LOCATION
Street Address: 737 Alta Vista Street, 745 Alta Vista Street, 749 Martinez Street, 748 Alta Vista
Street, 749 Alta Vista Street, 803 Alta Vista Street, 724 Martinez Street, 736 Martinez
Street, 741 Martinez Street, 748 Martinez Street, 728 Martinez Street, 734 Alta Vista
Street, 738 Alta Vista Street, Fort Collins, CO 80526
Municipality: Fort Collins vicinity
USGS quad (7.5’): Fort Collins year: 2010
Parcel number: 9701405008, 9701405010, 9701405025, 9701405001, 9701405011,
9701405035, 9701405018, 9701405015, 9701405023, 9701405023,
9701405017, 9701405004, 9701405003
Parcel information: Lot(s): __________ Block: ____________
Acreage: 9 Square Acres actual estimated X
PLSS information: Principal Meridian 6th Township T007N Range R0069 _
NW ¼ of SE ¼ of SE ¼ of SE ¼ of section 1
Boundary Description and Justification: historic X legal other ______________ please
note that boundary on accompanying location map should conform to boundary as described
The Alta Vista district occupies the NW ¼ of SE ¼ of SE ¼ of SE ¼ of Section 1 of
Township 7N Range 69W. The district is located on the northwest corner of the intersection of E.
Vine Dr. and Lemay Ave. It is approximately 5.5 acres, and forms a rectangular, with a slightly
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curved boundary on the south end. The southeast corner of the district is the southeast corner of the Alta Vista Park. The southern district
boundary then follows Alta Vista St. west, which after one block turns into Martinez St., and runs West to the end of the neighborhood,
terminating near the southwest corner of 725 Martinez St. The western boundary of the district is the walking alley that runs behind the
properties that line the West side of Martinez St., and terminates near the northwest corner of 813 Martinez St. The northern boundary runs
along the north edge of properties that abut the agricultural field to the north of the Alta Vista neighborhood, and terminates near the
northeast corner of 814 Alta Vista St. The eastern boundary runs along the east side of the walking alley behind the properties that line the
East side of Alta Vista St., cutting across Main St. and running south along the walking alley, then along the eastern edge of the Alta Vista
Park.
The Alta Vista Historic Landscape District boundary reflects the historic land purchased by Great Western Sugar Company for
development of residences for Hispanic workers. The district boundaries reflect the Public Lands Survey System (PLSS) created by the
federal government to administer the survey, sale, and settlement of lands west of the original colonies. Following the grid-system of the
PLSS, GWS subdivided the purchased property into multiple lots to house their labor workforce. The properties along Lindenmeier road
are not included in the Alta Vista Historic Cultural Landscape District, as they predate the establishment of this settlement for Hispanic beet
workers.
DESCRIPTION (address all applicable features; include alterations and dates, when known)
Natural Features
Topography:
Alta Vista neighborhood, just northeast of the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, is a small neighborhood comprised of
about fifty dwellings arranged along three streets just off the busy intersection of Vine Drive and Lemay Avenue. Alta Vista is set at roughly
5,000 feet above sea level, as is the rest of the city of Fort Collins. The neighborhood is set on mostly flat terrain near the banks of Dry
Creek, and is in the flood path for the creek. The soil surrounding the Alta Vista neighborhood once fostered the growth of sugar beets,
which flourish in sandy soils with little organic content.
To the south of the neighborhood is a large former industrial area where the Great Western Sugar Company once stood. The area
is now occupied by the City of Fort Collins Streets Facility. To the east of the neighborhood is Lemay Avenue, and across Lemay is a large
open field with a small farmstead. To the north and west, the neighborhood is bounded by former sugar beet fields, which are currently not
in use. To the west, the Fort Collins town center is visible as well as the Rocky Mountain Front Range in the distance. To the north, more
recent suburban developments can be seen on the other side of the field. On the south and east of the neighborhood, Dry Creek runs
parallel to Vine Drive and separates the Alta Vista neighborhood from the street.
Vegetation (include seasonal changes):
Large, dense windbreaks made of coniferous trees are located along the northern perimeter of the historic district. Farmstead
development along the plains of the front range depended on tree planting to offer shade and relief from high winds. Often times,
windbreak trees had to be replanted as they died, though it is unclear if and when Alta Vista residents endeavored to replant the windbreak
trees along the northern perimeter. It is also important to note that these trees provide space for wildlife. While some naturally occurring
vegetation exists within the fields surrounding the Alta Vista community, primarily along Dry Creek and Josh Ames Ditch, much of the
vegetation consisted of planning efforts by the Hispanic residents to demarcate property lines for their individual lots. It was common to use
coniferous trees for windbreak lines while deciduous trees often bounded property lines. For example, the Cordova house at 749 Martinez
Street, boasts a massive Cottonwood suggesting that the tree has existed along the property line since the Great Western Sugar Company
purchased the land in 1920. Seasonal changes within the Alta Vista community reflect larger trends in northern Colorado along the front
range. Consistent with the insular design of Alta Vista, seasonal changes may contribute to the isolated feel of the community. In the
summer, for example, dense vegetation surrounds many of the lots as residents use both naturally occurring and manmade vegetation to
create boundary demarcations. Despite much of the deciduous vegetation, even in the winter these trees and bushes continue to mark
boundaries and lots within Alta Vista contributing to the overall isolated feeling of the community. It should be noted that the vegetation
creating these boundary demarcations could also signify private ownership of homes and lots. Grass vegetation within these lots is
primarily limited to the backyards. A large number of the front yards consist of rocks, or are obscured from sight by a fence.
In addition to lot divisions within the community, Alta Vista Park is located on southeast side of the district. The park has native
grass, deciduous trees, a basket ball court, a sand pit, modest play structures, and a swing set. Dry Creek runs through the park along the
northern perimeter. Alta Vista Park triangular in shape and accessible only on its western side.
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Water:
Although as its name suggests it is usually dry, the creek has flooded Alta Vista before and flood mitigation has been an important
part of the development of modernized infrastructure such as sewer lines for the neighborhood. The flood pattern has also meant the
reconfiguration of parts of the terrain; the low drainage point for the area is at the intersection of Main Street and Alta Vista Street, a safe
distance from the Dry Creek bed.
Geology and Climate:
At the confluence of the high plains and the foothills, Alta Vista neighborhood sits at the conflux of natural and cultural environments.
The semi-arid climate and Hispanic worker populations drove construction for flat-roofed adobe homes. However, snowy Colorado winters
generated the need for gabled-roofs to allay precipitation drainage. Added gables also make exterior access to attics possible while the
louvered vents assist with air circulation during warm summers. Additionally, the wide-ranging temperatures formed the need to respond to
the natural environment. The freeze-thaw cycle led to cracked adobe and stucco damage. Due to exterior deterioration, adobe repairs are
prevalent. Addressing extreme seasonal temperature, several property owners replaced windows easing their energy costs.
Designed / Cultural Features
Land Use patterns: Permanent residence was the central idea surrounding the Great Western Sugar Company’s incentive to bring
Hispanic workers to the company. With this permanence workers would bring their families. Soon, Alta Vista became a community with
people of all ages, ranging from infants to elderly. The land use practices currently evident reflect the fact that this community is home to
people of multiple generations.
Alta Vista Park sits on the southern end of the neighborhood, with Alta Vista Street bordering it to the south and west and
residential property lines bordering it to the north and east. Alta Vista Park seems to particularly service the youth population. There is a
playset, swings and a basketball court, along with a bench and picnic table. Just to the west of the basketball court is a small open grassy
area that is bordered by Alta Vista Street and Dry Creek. This small, open grassy part of the park could provide for other recreational
activities. There is a large field to the southwest of the Alta Vista neighborhood, yet it is privately owned. So the small, open grass area in
the park is a publicly available spot of open land for recreational activities. A small, dirt parking area borders Alta Vista Street, so that
driving to this park is a viable option for parents as well. This park serves as an apparent meeting place for people in the community to
come together and strengthen community bonds both for youth and adults alike.
An open space across the street from Alta Vista park on the south side runs along the Dry Creek line and shows how people in
the community have historically retained access to water. This space now is still undeveloped, and a small parking area has been carved
out due to heavy use, which caused the grass to slowly diminish in the space. Ruts are also apparent in the parking area showing that
water is very present at times furthering the idea of the use of the space as a water source for the community. Since this is a large open
space, the tree line in the Dry Creek ditch guide the landscape and also potentially the use of the space. Since it can be marshy at times it
is not apparent if the space is used as a social gathering area, or only as extra parking.
Small dirt patches just off the road, similar to the parking area near Alta Vista Park, are common among properties along Alta
Vista, Martinez and Main streets. These provide parking for property owners and guests, because the roads in this neighborhood are very
narrow and can barely accommodate two lanes of traffic. The neighborhood has ten lamp posts that dot the streets at various intervals,
providing lighting for families walking back from the park, people walking to other properties, or those who are arriving and leaving the
neighborhood during after-dark hours. Light increases pedestrian visibility and the visibility of vehicles, especially because the roads are so
narrow.
Cultural Traditions:
The Alta Vista community’s permanence is a primary feature that has shaped the cultural traditions of the neighborhood. Alta Vista is
primarily Hispanic, and the community’s Hispanic heritage has shaped cultural traditions and practices. Several of the properties in Alta
Vista have grottos. Grottos represent particularly Catholic devotion to Mary, Mother of God. With Christianity and Catholicism being the
primary religious traditions associated with Hispanic heritage, the Alta Vista Community could shape several traditions (like Grottos) around
religious heritage.
Hispanic heritage is also widely present in the community with the adobe houses, and the vernacular add ons to the dwellings.
Hispanic culture often is surrounded by large family units and the expansion of homes as families grow. The vernacular add ons show how
the families in Alta Vista grew over time, and how family bonds are strong in the Hispanic culture. These familial bonds are apparent in the
feeling of the Alta Vista neighborhood. The space feels protective and it is apparent that the families are close and value their community.
The space is also cultural as a residential space. The community has been a residential area since its construction beginning in
1923, which brought together a group of Hispanic people, where many of the same families live in the neighborhood to this day. This is
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unique to the hispanic culture, and as a residential area, Alta Vista poses the possibility of a cultural residential space. It has been used for
housing for its entire lifespan, and has been a safe space for a community that has not found sanctuary easily elsewhere. The
neighborhood is isolated and insulated from others much as many other Hispanic settlements have been.
Planting patterns:
To minimize high winds, the community and property owners planted trees forming an overall more sheltered environment. Trees
surround the neighborhood on three sides, west, north, and east. Instead of dense vegetation, the south section of the neighborhood
includes a community park and entrance into Alta Vista. Volunteer trees grew in ditches and along the creek bed. An additional result of
surrounding the neighborhood with trees was creating a partial boundary between Alta Vista and adjacent communities. But boundaries
work in two ways, as trees encompass Alta Vista leading to a visible insularity for the neighborhood through visual isolation. While the
neighborhood once felt furthered distanced from the central development of Fort Collins, it currently remains visually separated due to
large trees profiling the neighborhood from a distance.
Boundary demarcations:
The district boundaries reflect the Public Lands Survey System (PLSS) created by the federal government to administer the survey,
sale, and settlement of lands west of the original colonies. The Great Western Sugar Company (GWS) purchased land directly northeast
of the City of Fort Collins and created the Alta Vista neighborhood in 1923 to facilitate the permanent settlement of migrant Hispanic
workers to labor in the sugar beet fields. Following the grid-system of the PLSS, GWS subdivided the purchased property into multiple lots
to house their labor workforce. The Alta Vista district occupies the NW ¼ of SE ¼ of SE ¼ of SE ¼ of Section 1 of Township 7N Range
69W. Vine Drive, along with the railroad track, follows the southern boundary of Alta Vista, Lindenmeier Road bounds the east side, while
open fields surround the district on the north and west sides. The City of Fort Collins incorporated Alta Vista into its municipality in 1974,
but the district remained isolated geographically from the rest of the city.
Spatial organization/layout:
The Alta Vista neighborhood sits on the corner of East Vine Drive and North Lemay Avenue in the northeast corner of Fort Collins. The
neighborhood is accessible from both Vine Drive to the south and Lemay Avenue to the east, although Alta Vista is offset from main
thoroughfares and traffic through the neighborhood proper is limited to local access. Main Street runs east-west through the center of the
subdivision and provides access to the two main north-south side streets Alta Vista and Martinez. Martinez Street curves to the west at its
southern end, running parallel to Main Street before joining with Alta Vista Street and ending at Vine Drive. The properties of the
neighborhood are small lots with small house footprints, laid out with access to the street on the east or west sides. The Alta Vista
neighborhood is similar in layout and size to the Andersonville and Buckingham sugar beet company neighborhoods on the southeast
corner of Lemay and Vine and off of East Lincoln Avenue respectively.
The neighborhood design reflects the original sugar beet company purpose in building the subdivision, which was to provide
permanent housing for workers. While designed to encourage seasonal workers to stay in place year-round, the layout of the neighborhood
reflects an emphasis on space economy rather than comfort. Houses are small, typically designed in a hall-and-parlor style that does not
provide much open space or bedrooms, and are for the most part only one story with exterior attic access. To compensate for the small
size of the original housing floor plan, residents typically extended their spaces onto the back of the structure with single-story shed-roof
additions. Outbuildings are also common as a way to maximize space on each lot.
Each house is set close to the street, with small front yards being the norm, and there are no sidewalks in the neighborhood. The
houses were designed without garages, and the few garages in the neighborhood are usually detached. Consequently, Alta Vista and
Martinez Streets are usually full of on-street parked cars that make the passage up and down the street more difficult and which makes the
streets seem narrower. Small house footprints and lot sizes mean neighbors are close together, and the lack of yard space and sidewalks
limits outdoor enjoyment in the neighborhood. A public park, located at the end of Alta Vista Street, takes the place of private outdoor yards
and provides a location for children to play and families to gather. The park also provides open space in an otherwise fairly small and
enclosed neighborhood.
Possibly because of the small size of lots and the closeness of houses to each other, fences are ubiquitous in the Alta Vista
neighborhood, helping demarcate property lines and provide distance between houses. Some residents have opted to install ten-foot
privacy fences, which are common especially on the rear of properties. The closed-in nature of many properties reflects a cultural
emphasis on privacy that is reflected in the layout of outbuildings within the neighborhood. Sheds, chicken coops, shanties, lean-tos and
other small buildings are present on many of the properties in the neighborhood. These buildings usually form a partial perimeter around a
central open courtyard space. The layout of houses and outbuildings on several Alta Vista properties reflects stylistic influence from
traditional hacienda architecture, which were designed to provide open space in the center of a protective perimeter of buildings.
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In addition to the primary streets of Alta Vista, Martinez, and Main, alleyways run the course of the neighborhood behind properties
that face west on Martinez and east on Alta Vista. These alleyways provide visibility to the rear of some of the homes on these streets.
Unlike several older Fort Collins neighborhoods that place extra parking in garages or alleyways, there are relatively few entrances to
homes that use these backstreets in Alta Vista. Many homes have privacy fences to close the private properties off from the common
alleyway space.
Circulation networks:
Built around and over Dry Creek, Alta Vista’s two access points minimize the need to cross the creek. Only one walking bridge was
constructed for the neighborhood. Along the west end of Lemay/Lindenmeier this foot-bridge creates a path over the oft-moistureless
creek. The south side of Martinez Street lies parallel to Dry Creek allowing for precipitation runoff directly into the gulley. Lacking drainage
sewers, Alta Vista’s curvilinear street design facilitates flood mitigation as water flows to the edge of each street and into Dry Creek.
Additionally, the orientation of the streets promotes the sense of insularity and isolation key to the neighborhood’s integrity.
Sidewalks are rare, isolated to individual homes and not connected.
Buildings, Structures, Objects:*
Buildings and structures that contribute to this district include those that reflect vernacular architecture and include the following addresses
(see attached architectural survey forms 1403): 724, 728, 736, 741, 748, and 749 Martinez Street; 734, 737, 738, 742, 745, 748 749, and
803 Alta Vista.
DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY
Location: [X] original moved date(s) moved: ____N/A_______
Development date(s): __1923____ estimated [X] actual source:
Designer(s) / builder(s): attributed documented source:
Developmental history and evolution: identify changes to landscape over time (additions, alterations, boundary alterations, demolitions):
The date of the first home construction on the land that became the Alta Vista or Spanish Colony in Fort Collins is unclear. A
1908 edition of the Fort Collins Quadrangle Map by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows no structures in the immediate
area of the Spanish Colony. In 1908, there were two structures located along the east end of the current Main Street just west of the
current Lindenmeier Road, four structures along Lindenmeier Road, and four structures along the current Vine Street (which was
commonly referred to as Sugar Avenue in the early nineteenth century). The same map also shows a U-shaped dam located to the
southwest of the future site of the Alta Vista Colony. The dam is approximately 50 meters wide and 300 meters long and is centered on
Dry Creek and running just north of the Josh Ames Ditch.
The initial construction of the first adobe home in the area is estimated at 1923. SWCA Environmental Consultants conducted
research in 2004 which indicates this date is based on the announcement of the Sugar Company in its corporate magazine of the
construction of a “Spanish colony” of adobe homes at its Fort Morgan factory. Later that year, the company indicated it would also build a
similar housing project at Fort Collins.
On February 28, 1927, the Great Western Sugar Company decide to solidify the development of its “Spanish Colony” and filed a
plat with Larimer County for the Alta Vista. Alta Vista was designed with two north-south streets, “A Street” to the east and “B Street” to the
west, and contained a total of 41 lots. Sixteen of the lots were located north of Main Street and twenty-five to the south of Main Street.
Due to the Dry Creek to the south of the colony, Main Street was the access to the north-south county road that became Lindenmeier
Road. The area of the former Howes Beet Warehouse along Lindenmeier Road was not included in the original plat for the Alta Vista
neighborhood.
The company sold the majority of the lots south of Main street in the 1930s. The first lot north of Main Street identified as being
sold was in 1939 with the remaining lots being sold in the 1940s or unidentified. Based on construction methods of buildings on lots north
of Main Street, it appears by this time the company was no longer using the adobe home construction model. The community also saw a
modest increase in the wealth of its residents as men were able to find work as construction workers on the Colorado Big Thompson
Project that paid significantly better and more consistent wages than their previous work as labors in the sugar beet fields.
In 1956, the Fort Collins and Larimer County atlas finally reflects Alta Vista as a separate entity and not part of the Great Western
Sugar Company. It also showed the extreme southeast area of the section, along Vine and Lindenmeier as separate from Alta Vista and
the Great Western Sugar Company. At this time, the community remains a separate unincorporated entity within Larimer County and is
not a legal neighborhood of Fort Collins. Thomas and Smith report that at various times the neighborhood would “elect” a mayor, often Lee
Martinez, to serve as their voice to the county and City of Fort Collins even though the neighborhood was not recognized as a political
entity by the state. This representation and voice became increasingly critical by the close of 1954 with the loss of company
representation.
The Fort Collins Great Western Sugar Company factory ceased operations in 1954 as the international cane sugar market and
technological advances in beet sugar production made the Fort Collins plant unprofitable. Over the interceding years, the buildings and
land of the Fort Collins factory were slowly disposed of and sold off. In 1964, the company razed all but two of the factory warehouse
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buildings. These two buildings were eventually sold in the 1970s to the Weyerhauser Lumber Company out of Tacoma, Washington.
In 1975, the City of Fort Collins secured $200,000 from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development to address
health and safety concerns the neighborhood faced without proper facilities and services like sewage. In the neighborhoods of Alta Vista,
Andersonville, and Buckingham, only fifty-one out of the 180 homes had access to sewage. The process of bringing sewage lines into the
Alta Vista neighborhood was part of a much larger City of Fort Collins project to improve the standard of living in these neighborhoods in an
immediate and drastic way.
Ultimately, the City of Fort Collins would spend $1,631,600 on Alta Vista to update its infrastructure. These updates would
include paved streets, which were laid in 1980. The paved streets were the result of an August 1979 push to improve the drainage in the
neighborhood. The sugar factory neighborhoods, because of their unpaved streets, often found their communities caked in mud and
drowning in pools and puddles of water after heavy rains. The paved streets were laid in a way that channels the water out of Alta Vista
and into the fields surrounding the neighborhood.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS
Original/historic use: Current use:
Historical Background/Overview (identify sources of information):
The area that is now Alta Vista has a lengthy human history, stretching back to the Paleo-Indians, who inhabited what is today the
Fort Collins area starting around 15,000 years ago. Since then, it has had a nearly continual human presence, including Clovis, Folsom,
and Plano tribes in the Lithic era, Archaic mountain and plains groups, as well as Apache, Comanche, Ute, Arapaho and Cheyenne in the
Historic era. The landscape changed significantly over time, from a wet, swamp-like ecology dominated by prehistoric megafauna, to a
drier environment inhabited by smaller animal life, as well as the cacti and woody shrubs of the Upper Sonoran ecological zone.
Located within the drainage of the Big Thompson and Cache la Poudre rivers, this landscape offered Colorado’s original, nomadic
human inhabitants a mild climate, as well as a wide range of ecological zones and environmental resources, especially water, edible
plants, and animals. For the region’s later, sedentary inhabitants, irrigation was an absolute necessity in the high plains, even for
subsistence farmers. Mexican farmers in 1853 utilized simple irrigation canals to provide small plots of land with a constant supply of water.
From these humble beginnings, irrigation would come to dominate the region and shape both the natural landscape and the area’s human
community in profound ways.
When Euro-Americans arrived in present-day Fort Collins in 1858, they, too, benefitted from the area’s abundant natural resources
and animal life within the context of the Western fur trade. As the Fort Collins area developed, the US army maintained a garrison of
soldiers at Camp Collins in order to protect the region’s burgeoning immigrant, Anglo- and Euro-American population, including American
settlers, English and Welsh ranchers, and Japanese laborers from steadily worsening relationships with local Native American tribes.
During the final push of the reservation movement in the late 1870s, the United States government removed the last remaining Native
American tribes in the area to reservations. The camp renamed itself Fort Collins in 1864, and the City of Fort Collins was incorporated in
1883.
Small scale agriculture in the region developed primarily in response to the influx of placer miners in the late nineteenth century.
People used irrigation water both for agriculture as well as for mineral sluicing. At the same time, large-scale irrigation projects allowed
agriculture at nearby Union Colony to expand and thrive, and droughts in the late nineteenth century underscored the need for significant
irrigation projects to protect crops from the naturally arid local climate. Irrigation expanded rapidly to meet agricultural demand. By 1879,
the Larimer and Weld irrigation company completed the Larimer and Weld Canal, stretching more than 50 miles long, and the first
trans-mountain water diversion, Cameron Pass Ditch, was completed in 1882.
As a neighborhood created to house Hispanic workers involved in the sugar beet industry, Alta Vista’s history is intimately tied to that
of the industry as a whole. Sugar beets arrived in Colorado in 1866, the same year that Elizabeth Stone and Miguel Gotiers purchased the
lot where the Alta Vista neighborhood stands today. Stone selected the area in response to news that soldiers would be establishing a
camp in the area and saw the need for a boarding house where the officers could lodge. She was 63 years old at the time.
The region’s extensive irrigation infrastructure, fertile soil and abundant sunshine made it an attractive area for sugar beet cultivation.
But, even as late as 1900, sugar beet cultivation in Fort Collins lagged behind other crops like potatoes, hay, and barley. Farmers primarily
used the beets to fatten livestock, such as lambs and cattle, rather than for producing refined sugar. In 1901, Benjamin F. Hottel, James
Arthur, Peter Anderson, Joseph McClelland, Jesse Harris, Jacob Welch, and C.R. Welch formed the Fort Collins Sugar Company and
purchased the land where Alta Vista now stands from Stone and Gotiers. The factory enabled farmers to profit from sugar beet cultivation
in new ways and also created the need for a large, predictable pool of skilled field workers. In April 1903, the first groups of Germans from
Russia arrived in Fort Collins to labor in the sugar beet fields, marking the start of the industry’s long relationship with ethnic workers.
Industrial sugar beet cultivation transformed Fort Collins, and the city’s population doubled between 1902 and 1905. However, the city itself
remained extremely racially homogeneous, despite the presence of large numbers of immigrants in nearby neighborhoods like
Andersonville and Buckingham.
In 1905, boosters for Fort Collins acknowledged the vital role that sugar beet cultivation (but not the labor of the immigrants who
undergirded the industry) played in the development of their city, stating, “the erection of a sugar beet factory and the consequent
cultivation of sugar beets, as also by the investment of large capital for the purpose of irrigation… combine to make Fort Collins… a most
desirable field for the safe and profitable investment of capital, especially in industries which are more closely connected or associated with
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agriculture.” As the industry matured, a trust of sugar manufacturers set industry-wide prices for sugar beets, and farmers lost their power
to negotiate prices individually. As historian Kathleen Brosnan remarks, this loss of bargaining power also affected field workers’ ability to
demand higher wages, despite their vital importance to Fort Collins’s local economy.
Development in the city itself (including a public library, theaters, an opera house, a high school, elementary schools, and the
expansion of public utilities like gas, electricity and running water by the early twentieth century) contrasted markedly with the primitive
conditions in sugar beet neighborhoods. By 1909, Colorado was the leading sugar-producing state in America, and the mark of the sugar
beet industry was stamped on the landscape in the form of a new railroad line, vast fields devoted to beet cultivation, towering beet dumps,
a thriving city, as well as neighborhoods for industrial workers, such as Alta Vista.
The date of the first home construction on the land that became the Alta Vista or Spanish Colony in Fort Collins is unclear. A 1908
edition of the Fort Collins Quadrangle Map by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) shows no structures in the immediate area of
the Spanish Colony. In 1908, there were two structures located along the east end of the current Main Street just west of the current
Lindenmeier Road, four structures along Lindenmeier Road, and four structures along the current Vine Street (which was commonly
referred to as Sugar Avenue in the early nineteenth century). The same map also shows a U-shaped dam located to the southwest of the
future site of the Alta Vista Colony. The dam is approximately 50 meters wide and 300 meters long and is centered on Dry Creek and
running just north of the Josh Ames Ditch.
By 1915, the dam does not appear on a Weld and Larimer County Agricultural map which shows the area of the Spanish Colony
belonging to the Sugar Company with the eastern area with structures, along current day Lindenmeier and described above, belonging to
the Howes Sugar Beet Warehouse.
The initial construction of the first adobe home in the area is estimated at 1923. SWCA Environmental Consultants conducted
research in 2004 which indicates this date is based on the announcement of the Sugar Company in its corporate magazine of the
construction of a “Spanish colony” of adobe homes at its Fort Morgan factory. Later that year, the company indicated it would also build a
similar housing project at Fort Collins.
The company’s motivation to establish permanent housing was a response to the company’s labor shortages. For the majority of the
first two decades of the factory’s existence in Fort Collins and throughout northern Colorado a majority of the workers in the labor-intensive
industry were new immigrants from eastern Europe, primarily German-Russians. The German-Russians established the Buckingham and
Andersonville neighborhoods in Fort Collins on land located to the southwest and south-east of the GWSC factory grounds in Fort Collins.
During the First World War, the factory had to increasingly turn to migrant labor from Mexico to support its operations as new immigration
was reduced and American labor was unavailable as young men were called to serve in the military. The migrant workers would only
remain in the area during the planting and harvesting seasons and move to other locations when their labor was not needed. This resulted
in the company continually needing to recruit workers to return in time to meet the upcoming demand in the sugar beet production cycle.
Thus, by facilitating the construction and acquisition of their own homes, the GWSC hoped to entice its migrant workers to establish
themselves as permanent residents in the communities next to their factories and forego their migrant work pattern. A permanent
workforce would ensure a more predictable labor force for the company and also likely increase productivity as workers would not be new
to the operations in each locality.
On February 28, 1927, the Great Western Sugar Company decide to solidify the development of its “Spanish Colony” and filed a plat
with Larimer County for the Alta Vista. Alta Vista was designed with two north-south streets, “A Street” to the east and “B Street” to the
west, and contained a total of 41 lots. Sixteen of the lots were located north of Main Street and twenty-five to the south of Main Street.
Due to the Dry Creek to the south of the colony, Main Street was the access to the north-south county road that became Lindenmeier
Road. The area of the former Howes Beet Warehouse along Lindenmeier Road was not included in the original plat for the Alta Vista
neighborhood.
The company enticed the workers to purchase the home plats by providing the construction material and lots to the workers through
a no-interest loan program which gave the company the right to void the sale and evict the workers if company policies were not followed.
The first deeds located for the neighborhood are found in the 1929 land records for Larimer County. In 1929 five lots were transferred from
the company to individual owners. Unfortunately, only 23 of the deeds for the sale of Alta Vista lots have been located in the Larimer
County land records and no corporate records covering land sales are included in the archival records for the company held at the Denver
Public Library, University of Colorado Boulder, or Colorado State University.
The company sold the majority of the lots south of Main street in the 1930s. The first lot north of Main Street identified as being sold
was in 1939 with the remaining lots being sold in the 1940s or unidentified. Based on construction methods of buildings on lots north of
Main Street, it appears by this time the company was no longer using the adobe home construction model. The community also saw a
modest increase in the wealth of its residents as men were able to find work as construction workers on the Colorado Big Thompson
Project that paid significantly better and more consistent wages than their previous work as labors in the sugar beet fields.
In 1940, the area of Alta Vista, despite having been sold as deeded land and registered with Larimer County for nearly two decades,
was still simply shown as land belonging to the Great Western Sugar Company and included the lands of the main GWSC factory land
located to the south of Alta Vista across the railroad tracks. This lack of recognition is a clear representation of how the community was
viewed by the majority of the local residents of Fort Collins and Larimer County. The community, legally not part of Fort Collins, was not
viewed as part of the Fort Collins community and the residents of the neighborhood increasing discrimination throughout the first half of the
nineteenth century. The discrimination faced by the Hispanic residents in the community was prevalent enough that the returning Hispanic
servicemen from World War Two felt compelled to form their own American Legion post and named it for a local Alta Vista resident killed in
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Sanborn Fire Insurance maps for Fort Collins. The maps began showing the Sugar Company, in great detail, soon after its construction in
1903. However, this reflection only showed the buildings south of the railroad tracks that run parallel to the current Vine Street. Even after
the establishment of Alta Vista with the county, the homes in the area were never included in any of the updates to the Fort Collins
Sanborn Map between 1925 and 1969.
In 1956, the Fort Collins and Larimer County atlas finally reflects Alta Vista as a separate entity and not part of the Great Western
Sugar Company. It also showed the extreme southeast area of the section, along Vine and Lindenmeier as separate from Alta Vista and
the Great Western Sugar Company. At this time, the community remains a separate unincorporated entity within Larimer County and is
not a legal neighborhood of Fort Collins. Thomas and Smith report that at various times the neighborhood would “elect” a mayor, often Lee
Martinez, to serve as their voice to the county and City of Fort Collins even though the neighborhood was not recognized as a political
entity by the state. This representation and voice became increasingly critical by the close of 1954 with the loss of company
representation.
The Fort Collins Great Western Sugar Company factory ceased operations in 1954 as the international cane sugar market and
technological advances in beet sugar production made the Fort Collins plant unprofitable. Over the interceding years, the buildings and
land of the Fort Collins factory were slowly disposed of and sold off. In 1964, the company razed all but two of the factory warehouse
buildings. These two buildings were eventually sold in the 1970s to the Weyerhauser Lumber Company out of Tacoma, Washington.
By 1963, the Fort Collins and Larimer County Atlas reflects that the Great Western Sugar Company’s closing in 1957 as the land to
the west and south of Alta Vista had been purchased by Henry and Lydia Schlegel and the land north of Alta Vista was owned by
Ferdinand Dreher who owned most of Section 1 in support of the Dreher Pickle Company. As beet production became unprofitable, a
large number of beet producers transitioned in the mid-twentieth century to cucumbers to support the new pickle industry.
As the Great Western Sugar Company and the city of Fort Collins expanded, so too did the Alta Vista community. Over time,
residents added additions and improvements to their homes, making these buildings as diverse as their residents. The community’s
buildings reflected the Hispanic culture of its inhabitants, and residents began calling their neighborhood “la Colonia.” While the sense of
community in Alta Vista was strong, the neighborhood had not shared in the Great Western Sugar Company’s period of success. Much of
the infrastructure that many citizens in Fort Collins took for granted were not present or unavailable in Alta Vista. Charlie Martinez and his
family began a campaign to improve the stand of living within the neighborhood. The work of families like the Martinezes forced the City of
Fort Collins to take responsibility for the neighborhood and begin projects that would provide the Alta Vista community the services they
lacked.
In 1975, the City of Fort Collins secured $200,000 from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development to address health
and safety concerns the neighborhood faced without proper facilities and services like sewage. In the neighborhoods of Alta Vista,
Andersonville, and Buckingham, only fifty-one out of the 180 homes had access to sewage. The process of bringing sewage lines into the
Alta Vista neighborhood was part of a much larger City of Fort Collins project to improve the standard of living in these neighborhoods in an
immediate and drastic way.
Ultimately, the City of Fort Collins would spend $1,631,600 on Alta Vista to update its infrastructure. These updates would include
paved streets, which were laid in 1980. The paved streets were the result of an August 1979 push to improve the drainage in the
neighborhood. The sugar factory neighborhoods, because of their unpaved streets, often found their communities caked in mud and
drowning in pools and puddles of water after heavy rains. The paved streets were laid in a way that channels the water out of Alta Vista
and into the fields surrounding the neighborhood.
While the improved infrastructure did much to bring the community together, the residents themselves continued to search for ways
to improve the neighborhood. In 1976, the city made a symbolic gesture and allowed the neighborhood to rename the streets. Up to this
point, the streets had been simply labeled “A,” “B” and “Main.” On January 20, 1976, the city approved the neighborhood’s proposed
names. “A street” became “Alta Vista Street,” and “B” became “Martinez street.” Main Street retained its name. The names were decided
by a community vote, with five names being proposed. Martinez street was named after the Martinez family, who had been residents in the
neighborhood since 1937 and had become prominent local leaders.
While the City of Fort Collins led many of the initiatives to develop the neighborhood, private groups also stepped in to help the
neighborhood. Neighbor to Neighbor, Inc. was dedicated to helping to improve the community’s living conditions. The non-profit worked
with the city in setting up sewage and drainage in the Alta Vista community. To show their commitment, the group set up their office
spaces inside the Alta Vista neighborhood itself. 732 Alta Vista became the group’s headquarters, and also served as a temporary home
for residents whose homes were being rehabilitated by Neighbor to Neighbor.
In September of 1975, the Schlegel family donated a parcel of land to the City of Fort Collins for public use. This open space would
become Alta Vista Park, which continues to serve as a favorite meeting place for the Alta Vista neighborhood, and is where the community
gathers and hosts local celebrations.
The isolation of the neighborhood meant that Alta Vista was an underrepresented community in the history of Fort Collins. Many
residents in the city were unaware of their neighbors to the northeast of the city center. In 1983, the City of Fort Collins Planning and
Development Department surveyed and inventoried every property in the Alta Vista community, as well as nearby Buckingham and
Andersonville. The resulting report, titled Architecture and History of Buckingham, Alta Vista, and Andersonville captured photos of many
structures that were razed, removed or radically renovated during the various city improvement processes during this period. The 1983
survey, conducted by Community Services Collaborative and lead by John Feinberg and Ellen T. Ittelson, highlighted several properties
that could be individually nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, as well as identifying properties that were ineligible, or did
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out an intensive survey of the sugar factory neighborhoods. The City had this done in order to address the pressure the region faced from
development and to create a sense of how best to develop the region without compromising the neighborhood’s distinct cultural identity. In
March of 2002, the City of Fort Collins acquired a $28,500 grant from the Colorado Historical Society to conduct another historic survey of
the Alta Vista, Buckingham, and Andersonville neighborhoods. The City matched the grant for an additional sum of $9,500. Adam
Thomas and Timothy Smith carried out the survey while Eric Twitty wrote the historical context. Ultimately, the team determined that the
sugar factory neighborhoods were architecturally and culturally sound until the mid-1970s when the city began its improvement projects.
The team also determined that portions of the Alta Vista neighborhood were eligible to be seen as a historic district for the National
Register.
The 2016 City of Fort Collins budget earmarked $82,000 for laying sidewalks in the Alta Vista neighborhood. The project would
cover approximately 1,100 feet of the neighborhood, creating sidewalks that would be four-and-a-half feet wide, and would be located on
Alta Vista Drive and Main Street. The project was slated to begin in the fall of 2016 but was met with resistance from neighborhood
residents. Their concerns ranged from traffic circulation to funding use. Lee Tijernia gathered a petition of forty residents to resist the
sidewalks. Instead, the petition asked that the city invests the funds in projects that would improve the neighborhood’s sense of
community, by adding restrooms to the Alta Vista Park, or by addressing the neighborhood’s storm drain problems that have resulted in
frequent flooding. The project has been delayed until the spring of 2017 for more favorable construction conditions, and to provide time to
address the local resistance to the project.
In mid-2016, local developer Mickey Willis approached the City of Fort Collins for approval of 127-acre project called the Sugar Beet
District. The district would be a mix of apartments, commercial spaces, offices and artistic live and work spaces. The project proposes to
build in the open field space surrounding the Alta Vista neighborhood, as well as using twenty-seven acres of the nearby Rocky Mountain
Raptor Program. The program has been met with resistance by the Alta Vista neighborhood as many residents feel that the new
development would raise the property values of their homes. This places Alta Vista residents in a tenuous position, as many are
low-income families, and can only afford to remain in Fort Collins because of their relative isolation from the center of the city. Community
leader Lee Tijernia has led a campaign to designate the neighborhood a protected historic district to dissuade the project from commencing
or to minimize the impact the project could potentially have on the Alta Vista community.
Sources:
“People of the Poudre: Native Americans in Larimer County, Colorado 12,000 y.a. – 1878” Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, Fort Collins
History Connection,http://history.poudrelibraries.org/archive/ethnic/native.php, Accessed March 29, 2017.
Hawthorne, Barbara. “Mexican American Cultural History” Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, Fort Collins History Connection,
http://history.poudrelibraries.org/archive/ethnic/Mexican.php, Accessed March 29, 2017.
“People of the Poudre,” Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, Fort Collins History Connection, Accessed March 29, 2017.
Evadene Burris Swanson, Fort Collins Yesterdays, (Fort Collins, CO: Don-Art Printers, Inc., 1993), 101.
“Fort Collins History and Architecture: Sugar Beets, Streetcar Suburbs, and the City Beautiful, 1900-1919,” Fort Collins Museum of
Discovery, Fort Collins History Connection,http://history.poudrelibraries.org/archive/contexts/sugar.php, Accessed March 29,
2017.
“Fort Collins, Colorado, A City of Achievements and Opportunities” Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, Fort Collins History Connection,
Accessed March 29, 2017.
Kathleen, A. Brosnan, Uniting Mountain and Plain: Cities, Law, and Environmental Change along the Front Range. (Albuquerque, NM:
University of New Mexico Press, 2002), 184-185.
“Fort Collins, Colorado, A City of Achievements and Opportunities” Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, Fort Collins History Connection,
Accessed March 29, 2017.
Larimer County Atlas (Loveland, CO: Rocky Mountain Map Company, 1940).
Larimer County Colorado 1956 Atlas (Loveland, CO: rocky Mountain Directory Company, 1956)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for Fort Collins, Colorado, 1969 (Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, 1969); Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for
Fort Collins, Colorado, 1925 (Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, 1925); Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for Fort Collins, Colorado,
1909 (Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, 1909); Sanborn Fire Insurance Map for Fort Collins, Colorado, 1906 (Sanborn Fire
Insurance Company, 1906)
Candy Hamilton, “Footprints in the Sugar: A History of the Great Western Sugar Company” (Portlad, OR: Hamilton & Bates Publishers,
2009), 444-450.
Larimer County Colorado 1963 Atlas (Loveland, CO: rocky Mountain Directory Company, 1963)
Freed, David. "Neighborhood Renovation to State Next Week." The Rocky Mountain Collegian (Fort Collins), November 13, 1975.
Thomas, Adam. “Hang Your Wagon to a Star: Hispanics in Fort Collins, 1900-2000.” Planning Department, City of Fort Collins, Colorado.
Fort Collins, Colorado, 2003. (9-10)
“Street Paving and Drainage Improvements in Andersonville and Alta Vista for the City of Fort Collins, August 1979: Project No. 65-1-1.”
City of Fort Collins, Colorado. August 1979.
“Resolution 76-7 of the Council of the City of Fort Collins Changing the Names of Certain Streets in Alta Vista, a Subdivision in the City of
Fort Collins.” City of Fort Collins, Colorado. January 20, 1976.
"Zoning board to weigh Alta Vista street names." Coloradoan (Fort Collins), January 4, 1976.
“Development Agreement.” Neighbor to Neighbor, Inc. January 24, 1985.
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“Resolution 86-95 of the Council of the City of Fort Collins Authorizing the Mayor to Quitclaim to Neighbor-to-Neighbor, Inc. Any Interest
the City Has in the House or Real Property At 732 Alta Vista.” City of Fort Collins, Colorado, June 3, 1986.
Schlegel, Lydia, and Henry. “Deed of Dedication.” City of Fort Collins, Colorado. September 13, 1976.
Thomas, Adam, and Timothy Smith. “The Sugar Factory Neighborhoods: Buckingham, Andersonville, Alta Vista.” Advance Planning
Department, City of Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins, Colorado, April, 2004. (21)
“Ordinance No. 028, 2002 of the Council of the City of Fort Collins Appropriating Unanticipated Grant Revenue in the General Fund and
Authorizing the Transfer of Matching Funds Previously Appropriated in the Advance Planning Budget for the Buckingham, Alta
Vista, and Andersonville Neighborhoods Survey Grants Project.” City of Fort Collins, Colorado. March 5th, 2002.
Thomas, Adam, and Timothy Smith. “The Sugar Factory Neighborhoods: Buckingham, Andersonville, Alta Vista.” Advance Planning
Department, City of Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins, Colorado, April, 2004. (1-2)
Duggan, Kevin. "Fort Collins neighborhood resists sidewalks." Coloradoan, January 15, 2017. Accessed March 31, 2017.
http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2017/01/16/fort-collins-neighborhood-resists-sidewalks/96515630/.
Ferrier, Pat. "Analysis: Is Sugar Beet District a boon or fantasy?" Coloradoan, March 24, 2017. Accessed March 31, 2017.
http://www.coloradoan.com/story/marketplace/jobs/2017/03/24/analysis-sugar-beet-district-boon-fantasy/99463692/.
Musselmann, Rachel. "Residents say Sugar Beet District Project threatens historic neighborhood." The Rocky Mountain Collegian,
October 24, 2015. Accessed March 31, 2017.
https://collegian.com/2015/10/residents-say-sugar-beet-district-project-threatens-historic-neighborhood/.
HISTORIC CONTEXT EVALUATION*
Name of Historic Context:
Area(s) of significance: Agriculture; Architecture Significant Person(s): n/a
Period(s) of significance: _1923-1960; 1923-1967 Significant Date(s): __________________
Level of significance: National State Local
Discuss presence or absence of character-defining features needed to convey significance within this context:
Character-defining features (CDFs) of this historic cultural landscape district include elements of the district’s spatial organization,
yards and fences, vegetation, and vernacular architecture. CDFs related to spatial organization include 1) the street pattern of the
neighborhood, which is a small grid with two inlets/outlets; 2) narrow walking alleys that provide access and visibility among the
neighborhood properties; 3) individual lot size (small), shape (rectangular), and orientation (east-west); 4) the size and position of the
main house on individual lots; 5) the park located in the southeast corner of the district; and 6) gravel or paved driveways along the
sides of houses. The yards and fences present on many of the lots are also CDFs of this district. Front yards are relatively shallow;
many are dirt, rock, or contain natural vegetation rather than planted sod. Fences around lots are expressions of ownership, control,
and privacy. Fences vary in form and include the following types: tall privacy, chain link, picket, and wire. Vegetation that constitutes
CDFs includes the mature trees that mark lot boundaries and distinguish the Alta Vista neighborhood from the surrounding
agricultural fields. Vegetation that has grown up along Dry Creek and Ames Ditch adds to the other mature vegetation (planted
intentionally and volunteer) that provides cover and shade, and that clearly distinguishes Alta Vista as a residential area set among
agricultural and industrial spaces. Finally, the vernacular architecture of many of the buildings and structures within the district
boundaries is a CDF. Original adobe-brick homes were one story, rectangular in form, and had flat or gable roofs. Over time, these
buildings were modified in common ways that reflect hybridization of form, for example, many homes possess rear, shed-roof
additions. In addition, vernacular adaptations to original homes included expanding spaces on main buildings and adding out
buildings that, taken together, reflect traditional hispanic building forms of U and square (courtyard) complexes. Alta vista provides an
excellent example of vernacular architecture that combines traditional hispanic building forms and materials with adaptations that
reflect national architectural trends and that use available and inexpensive materials to adapt as residents’ living space needs
changed over time.
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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Landscape retains Integrity of: location setting design materials workmanship association feeling
Discuss presence or absence of integrity within this context:
The Alta Vista Historic Cultural Landscape maintains overall integrity. The district possesses integrity of location, as the district
boundaries mirror the original housing plan developed by Great Western Sugar in the 1920s. Integrity of setting is also high,
as the Alta Vista neighborhood remains surrounded by agricultural fields, and in close proximity to the railroad and former
sugar beet factory. Integrity of design, materials, and workmanship are in all high; a majority of the lots retain the original
size, shape, and orientation as originally planned; street patterns remained unaltered, and vernacular architecture exhibits
hybridization of form and style. A number of the original portions of rectangular homes are constructed of adobe brick, and
exhibit the distinct characteristic of vernacular architecture of turning to other materials as adaptations occurred (in this case
from adobe brick to wood frame, and combining stucco and wood siding on exterior building envelopes). As the Alta Vista
neighborhood remains relatively physically isolated and insulated from other Fort Collins residential districts, the integrity of
association and feeling of this primarily hispanic neighborhood remain intact.
ELIGIBILITY ASSESSMENT
Existing designation? No Yes Individual property District
Designated property or district name: N/A
Designating authority: N/A Designation date: __N/A____
If the property is within the boundaries of an existing designated district, is it: Contributing Noncontributing
Individual site: Eligible Not Eligible Needs Data
Applicable NR Criteria: A B C D Applicable Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G
Applicable SR Criteria: A B C D E
Summary: N/A
Potential district: Eligible Not Eligible Needs Data
Applicable NR Criteria: [A] B [C] D Applicable Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G
Applicable SR Criteria: [A] B [C] D E
Summary: A potential historic district encompassing the Alta Vista neighborhood as an example of vernacular architecture and
adobe construction as well as its association with the history of agriculture and Hispanic heritage in Fort Collins, Colorado. The
potential Alta Vista Historic Landscape District is locally significant under Criterion A for Agriculture and Social History from 1923 to
1960. The Alta Vista neighborhood was developed to house the first permanently settled Hispanic workers at Fort Collins Sugar Beet
Factory. Because of its physical and social isolation from the City of Fort Collins, the community remained primarily Hispanic beet
workers until the closing of the factory in 1960. The neighborhood provides an excellent example of both the insular and isolated
history of Hispanic sugar beet workers in the region from their permanent settlement near Fort Collins in 1920 to the closing of the
Sugar Beet factory in 1960. The potential Alta Vista Historic District is also locally significant under Criterion C as an excellent
example of adobe-brick construction and newer forms of vernacular architecture. The district illustrates a key feature of vernacular
architecture in the adaptation of traditional Hispanic building forms over time using readily available and inexpensive local materials
for modifications that often reflected the influence of Anglo styles as residents of Alta Vista turned to hybrid forms to accommodate
changes in their living space needs. The period of significance under Criterion C is from 1923, when the first adobe-brick home was
constructed in the neighborhood, to 1967 in accordance with the NRHP fifty-year rule.
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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If there is NR district potential, itemize contributing and non-contributing resources:
RECORDING INFORMATION
Survey date: Associated Report:
Photo log: All photos of Alta Vista Neighborhood (OAPH Site #) by Colorado State University, taken April 2017.
AltaVista_1_LookingSW.tif for View of Northern side of Alta Vista Neighborhood with adjacent agricultural fields
AltaVista_5_LookingE.tif for View of Alta Vista Park
AltaVista_6_LookingN.tif for View of southern side of Alta Vista Neighborhood with Dry Creek
AltaVista_2_LookingS.tif for View of adobe-brick houses within the Alta Vista Neighborhood
AltaVista_9_LookingSW.tif for Facade and NE elevation of an adobe-brick house in Alta Vista Neighborhood
Surveyed by (include contact info):
Project sponsor (include contact info):
*For additional guidance on documenting and evaluating historic cultural landscapes, refer to the following National Register bulletins: Guidelines for
Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places; How to Evaluate and Nominate Designed Historic Landscapes; Guidelines for Evaluating and
Documenting Rural Historic Landscapes; Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties; and Guidelines for Identifying,
Evaluating, and Registering Historic Mining Properties.
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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ADDITIONAL REQUIRED MATERIALS
SITE SKETCH
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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USGS MAP LOCATION
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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PHOTOGRAPHS
PHOTO 1: AltaVista_1_LookingSW - View of northern side of Alta Vista with adjacent agricultural fields
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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Photo 2: AltaVista_6_LookingN - View of southern side of Alta Vista with Dry Creek
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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Photo 3: AltaVista_5_LookingE - View of Alta Vista Park
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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Photo 4: AltaVista_2_LookingS - View of adobe-brick houses within the Alta Vista Neighborhood
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OAHP Site # OAHP Form 1404
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Photo 5: AltaVista_9_LookingSW - Facade and NE elevation of an adobe-brick house in the Alta Vista Neighborhood
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not contribute to the NRHP individually or as a district.
In January of 2002, the City of Fort Collins contracted SWCA Environmental Consultants to produce a historical context and to carry
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the Battle of the Bulge.
The invisibility of the Alta Vista neighborhood can also be seen through the lack of inclusion of the Alta Vista neighborhood on the
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