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Mead, Colorado
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History
The Town of Mead was platted on February 16, 1906 and incorporated on March 17, 1908. The Town was named for Paul Mead, the nephew of Highlandlake founder, "Deacon” L. C. Mead, who had emigrated from Chicago and built his homestead at what is now Highlandlake. L. C. Mead was well known locally for his work with the Highland Ditch Company while that Company was surveying and building Highland Lake on his property. The Highland Ditch and its reservoir system was one of the first farm irrigation systems in the country and was, at that time, a subject of wide agricultural study at many of the country’s agricultural education institutions. The small unincorporated community of Highlandlake is still in existence and is located approximately 1 ½ miles west of Mead.
In 1905 the Great Western Railroad built a feeder line from Longmont to Johnstown to gather and take the sugar beet harvest to their refinery in Longmont. The railway passed directly through Paul Mead’s property. Paul was Deacon Mead’s nephew. It was decided by the businesses at Highlandlake to relocate to this railway siding, which led Paul to plat a new town adjacent to the tracks. For the next two decades the Town prospered as farmers used this siding to get their crops to the market.
At its peak, Mead had three general stores, a hotel, a combination grocery store and meat market, two saloons, a butcher shop, a filling station, two auto garages, an implement company, two livery stables, a lumberyard, a blacksmith shop, a drug store, a hoe and harness repair shop, a post office, two doctors’ offices, a bank (Mead State Bank) and a newspaper (Mead Messenger). Two of the churches in existence then are still active today. There was also a pickle factory, a hay mill and a pea-hulling factory on the outskirts of the community.
An additional note. The United Church of Christ - Congregational of Highlandlake, is the official name of the church building where DieHard II with Bruce Willis was filmed. Originally built in 1896, the church is owned by Historic Highlandlake, Inc, the local historical society for the Highlandlake/Mead area, and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The building has been maintained by members of the Highlandlake community as a community center since 1917, after the church closed its doors. Historic Highlandlake also owns the Historic Pioneer Cemetery, established in 1878.
The Highlandlake community was the original townsite of what later became the Town of Mead, CO. For more information on the history of Highlandlake and Mead, visit Historic Highlandlake's website at. www.HistoricHighlandlake.org
Geography
Mead is located at (40.224781, -104.988573).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), of which, 4.3 square miles (11.2 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (2.71%) is water.
DemographicsAs of the census of 2000, there were 2,017 people, 641 households, and 573 families residing in the town. The population density was 468.2 people per square mile (180.7/km²). There were 663 housing units at an average density of 153.9/sq mi (59.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.69% White, 0.15% African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 1.83% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.94% of the population.
There were 641 households out of which 52.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 82.2% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.5% were non-families. 7.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.15 and the average family size was 3.31.
In the town the population was spread out with 34.8% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 35.7% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 4.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $79,298, and the median income for a family was $81,433. Males had a median income of $55,455 versus $32,596 for females. The per capita income for the town was $31,483. About 0.7% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.
See also
External links
"Mead Colorado's Weather Station since 1997"
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