William A. H. Loveland
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
railroad entrepreneur and businessman in the late 19th century. An early resident of Golden
Golden, Colorado
The City of Golden is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was...
when it was the capital of the Colorado Territory
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado....
, he was one of the founders of the Colorado Central Railroad
Colorado Central Railroad
The Colorado Central Railroad was a U.S. railroad company that operated in Colorado and southeastern Wyoming in the late 19th century. Originally founded in the Colorado Territory in the wake of the Colorado Gold Rush to ship gold from the mountains, it eventually expanded from its initial...
and a principal figure in the early history of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. As president of the Colorado Central, he was instrumental in the expansion of the railroad network into the mining communities of Colorado. For much of the 1870s Loveland waged a fierce struggle with Union Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
investors for control of the Colorado Central. He also served as Lt. Governor of Colorado.
Biography
His father was the Rev. Leonard Loveland, a prominent Methodist minister and prisoner of warPrisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. As a young man, Loveland served in the Mexican-American War, serving as a wagonmaster with the Illinois Volunteers. Serving in the battles of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
and Puebla
Puebla
Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla....
, Loveland was severely wounded in the Battle of Chapultepec
Battle of Chapultepec
The Battle of Chapultepec, in September 1847, was a United States victory over Mexican forces holding Chapultepec Castle west of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War.-Background:On September 13, 1847, in the costly Battle of Molino del Rey, U.S...
, and was returned to the United States as an invalid. Upon recovery, Loveland entered the mercantile business in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and married Phelena Shaw in 1853. After she died a couple years later, Loveland remarried, to Miranda Ann Montgomery.
In 1859 Loveland joined the Colorado Gold Rush
Colorado Gold Rush
The Pike's Peak Gold Rush was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 and lasted until roughly the creation of the Colorado Territory on February 28, 1861...
, and helped establish the town of the Golden
Golden, Colorado
The City of Golden is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the edge of the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Founded during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush on 16 June 1859, the mining camp was...
in the Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
and went into the mercantile business there, building the town's first storefront and second building. After the formation of the Colorado Territory in 1861, he was instrumental in helping establish the territorial capital at Golden. He offered the use of his building, which also was a public hall that was central to the town's activities, to the House of Representatives while another in the same block served the Council (Senate). When most of Golden's leading citizens left to fight in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Loveland kept the languishing town alive. At the height of the depression Loveland built the town's first brick storefront in 1863 to house his mercantile business, the Loveland Block, now considered to be the oldest existing commercial brick structure in Colorado. The building also served to house first Masonic Lodge
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
in Colorado and was expanded in 1866 to accommodate both houses the Colorado Territorial Legislature, which met there until the capital was moved to Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
in 1867. The Territorial Library and possibly Territorial Supreme Court were also housed there.
In the 1860s, Loveland became an enthusiastic promoter of building a railroad west of Golden through the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, with the idea that Golden would become a great railroad metropolis of the region. In the early 1860s he began purchasing right-of-way in the canyon west of Golden. In 1864, he helped found the Colorado, Clear Creek and Pacific Railway (later Colorado Central Railroad) with the intention of building a rail line the mining communities, and connecting it to the transcontinental railroad that was to be built to the north across present-day Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. Loveland's early efforts to build a railroad were hampered by a lack of funds, as well as a fierce struggle for control of the railroad itself. In the meantime, in 1867, the territorial capital was moved to Denver, and in 1870, the rival Denver Pacific Railway
Denver Pacific Railway
The Denver Pacific Railway was a historic railroad that operated in the western United States during the late 19th century.Formed in 1867 in the Colorado Territory, the company operated lines in Colorado and present-day southeastern Wyoming in the 1870s until merging with the Kansas Pacific and...
completed its line between Denver and Cheyenne, cementing Denver as the future metropolis of Colorado. Loveland and his partners had to settle for connecting Golden to the Denver Pacific line. It was not until 1877 that the company was able to construct its own direct line from Golden (via Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
and Fort Collins
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
) to Cheyenne. After the completion of the line, the new city of Loveland, Colorado
Loveland, Colorado
Loveland is a Home Rule Municipality that is the second most populous city in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Loveland is situated north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Loveland is the 14th most populous city in Colorado. The United States Census Bureau that in 2010 the...
was founded in Larimer County
Larimer County, Colorado
Larimer County is the seventh most populous and the ninth most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is located at the northern end of the Front Range, at the edge of the Colorado Eastern Plains along the border with Wyoming...
along the route and named in his honor. Loveland Pass
Loveland Pass
Loveland Pass, elevation 11,990 ft. above sea level, is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of north-central Colorado, U.S.A.....
in the Rockies west of Golden is also named for him.
In 1870, Loveland was instrumental in persuading the Colorado Territorial Legislature to authorize funds for the establishment of the Colorado School of Mines
Colorado School of Mines
The Colorado School of Mines is a small public teaching and research university devoted to engineering and applied science, with special expertise in the development and stewardship of the Earth's natural resources. Located in Golden, Colorado, CSM was ranked 29th, in America among national...
in Golden. He later served on the Board of Trustees of the School of Mines after the Episcopal Church sold it to the Territory in 1874.
Loveland was one of the most prominent philanthropists his area has known, whose contributions also helped build the community. Loveland gave land for three schools in Golden, and six churches including the Methodist (3rd church in Colorado), Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
(oldest church of its faith in Colorado), Episcopalian, Disciples of Christ, Presbyterian, and Lutheran (first Swedish immigrant church in Colorado). He regularly lent his hall for public events, community organizations and governmental entities, including the municipal, county and Territorial governments.
As Mayor of Golden (1874–75), Loveland ordered the Golden firefighters to the aid of Central City, Colorado
Central City, Colorado
Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
when it was stricken by fire in 1874. Considered the first mutual aid call in Colorado history, the Golden firemen, arriving by the railroad, succeeded in saving the upper part of the city.
In 1878 Loveland became the second owner of the Rocky Mountain News
Rocky Mountain News
The Rocky Mountain News was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As of March 2006, the Monday-Friday circulation was 255,427...
, purchasing it from founder William N. Byers. At that time Loveland moved to Denver, but kept an active role in Golden's affairs.
In 1889, in partnership with Charles Welch, Loveland platted a new 13-block country town along Colfax Avenue west of Denver. The town, called Lakewood
Lakewood, Colorado
Lakewood is a Home Rule Municipality that is the most populous city in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Lakewood is the fifth most populous city in the State of Colorado and the 172nd most populous city in the United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that in April 1, 2010...
, would eventually grow to Colorado's fourth largest municipality by 1990. It was laid out along the new mass transit line Loveland helped spearhead in 1890, the Denver, Lakewood & Golden Railway. Loveland moved to Lakewood in 1889.
Loveland died in 1894 in Lakewood and was buried in Denver's Fairmount Cemetery
Fairmount Cemetery (Denver, Colorado)
Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado was founded in 1890 and is Denver's second oldest operating cemetery after Riverside Cemetery. It was designed by German landscape architect Reinhard Schuetze...
. Loveland's mercantile business founded in 1859 continued until 1978 as one of the longest-lived businesses in Colorado history. His earliest Colorado residence, the Loveland Cottage in Golden, which he purchased from a town attorney, still stands at 717 12th Street. The Loveland Block, also a designated historic landmark at 1122 Washington Avenue, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. His Lakewood home, built in 1888 at 1435 Harlan Street, also still stands. Loveland had two sons, Francis William and William Leonard, and an adopted daughter, Jennie Froggatt Loveland.