    |
      |
|
|
Tours: Offered each day in operation at 11:00am. Groups may arrange a guided tour any day of the week. You can also follow the self-guided tour provided in this brochure. Special Events
Driving DirectionsThe Ag Heritage Center is located at 8348 Ute Highway 66, west of Longmont.
Gadgets powered by Google History
The family histories associated with the Agricultural
Heritage Center demonstrates how Boulder County's agricultural pioneers
met the successes and pitfalls of working the land over several
generations.
Like many early Colorado pioneers in the mid-to-late 1800s, George McIntosh came to the Rocky Mountain Front Range to improve his health and wealth. Born in Ohio in 1837, he moved to Wisconsin in hopes of curing his asthma. After serving as a schoolteacher and store clerk, he headed to the Pike's Peak Region by wagon in the spring of 1860 during the height of the gold rush. Colorado's semi-arid climate seemed to immediately aid his asthma. After stints in farming and hard rock mining, McIntosh joined the U.S. Cavalry to fight in the Civil War and various Plains Indian campaigns. After running a freight operation that brought him through this area, he returned in 1868 to build a log cabin and break ground for his new farm. George McIntosh soon married a young widow from Iowa named Amanda Jane (Lee) Noble. They operated a cattle operation and grew feed crops in the open fields. By 1877, they had four children: Mark, Walter, George Jr., and Minnie. After Amanda's father was killed by Teton Sioux Indians in Montana, her mother and younger brother came to live with them in the small log cabin. This prompted George, Sr. to build the large Victorian frame farmhouse (the white house you can see across Hwy 66) in 1878 to accommodate his growing family. George Lohr, an early Hygiene postmaster, purchased
the original After selling the farm to the Lohrs, George, Sr. and Amanda McIntosh purchased a home on Kimbark St. in Longmont, where they spent the remainder of their lives. After Amanda's death in 1913, George, Sr. continued to live in town and walk the five miles to visit the Lohrs several times a week until his death in 1924 at the age of 87. Shorty Lohr never married and continued to live and work on the farm. For a while, Shorty worked as a scenic tour bus driver at Rock Mountain National Park. He then took a position with the Boulder County Road Department, retiring in 1974. In 1985, Shorty sold the family farm to Boulder County Parks and Open Space and donated $250,000 to establish an educational center on the property. Shorty Lohr died in 1991 at the age of 91. The Agricultural Heritage Center is also great example of what a partnership between Boulder County Parks and Open Space and a community-minded citizen can accomplish. This partnership resulted in not only the creation of the Agricultural Heritage Center, but also the preservation of over 250 acres of actively farmed land. To set up a tour or for more information, contact Tom McMichen at tmcmichen@bouldercounty.org or 303-776-8848.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Site Highlights
homestead parcel from George McIntosh after marrying his youngest
daughter, Minnie, in 1899. After the birth of their 2 sons, Neil R. 'Shorty'
and Harry Galen, the Lohrs built the 1909 farmhouse on the site of the
first log cabin. They farmed with horses, then later with tractors. They
grew feed crops, raised short horn cattle, and kept milk
cows. They also raised chickens, kept pigs and sold eggs, milk and
butter. Later they raised produce and sugar beets, which they sold to
local canning and sugar companies. During this time, McIntosh Lake was
enlarged to cover 263 acres to provide water storage for the Highland
Ditch and the booming sugar beet industry.