Agricultural Heritage Center
at the Lohr-McIntosh Farm
 The
Agricultural Heritage Center at the Lohr/McIntosh Farm is open to the public
and located at 8348 Ute Highway 66 west of Longmont. The family
histories associated with the Agricultural Heritage Center typify how
Boulder County's agricultural pioneers met the successes and pitfalls of
working the land over several generations. The history also reveals how a
community-minded citizen can work with a local public land agency to
preserve valuable open space and a swiftly disappearing way of life for
the benefit of future generations.
The Agricultural Heritage Center is open to the public from April 1 through October
31 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Winter hours
are from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on the first Saturday of every month. Tours
begin at 11:00 am in the winter months.
- Between April 1 and October 31, guided tours are offered on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
starting at
11:00 am. Groups may make special arrangements for tours year-round,
any day of the week.
- You are welcome to wander
around on your own using a self-guided brochure or you can join the guided tour offered Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,11:00
am to 12:30 pm.
- We will continue to open the site on the first Saturday of each
month November through March.
Please be aware the site is still in its developmental stage.
Restoration and landscaping projects are currently underway. For safety
reasons, only buildings with open doors are accessible to the public.
 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 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.
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.
To set up a tour or for more information, contact Tom McMichen at tmcmichen@co.boulder.co.us
or
303-776-8848.
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