DID YOU KNOW: Julesburg, Colorado?

Did you know that the town of Julesburg, in Colorado, moved four times before it decided to stay put?

The town started in 1859. It was attacked by indians in 1865 (Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne) and burned to the ground. The townspeople stayed in Fort Sedgwick for a time. (The fort was called Fort Rankin before they changed it to Sedgwick.) A second Julesburg was built about four miles east of the Fort.


A town plat was filed in 1866. In 1867, the Union Pacific Railroad came into Colorado. They set up a railhead just North of the South Platte River.

So, the residents of Julesburg number 2 packed up the whole town, and moved to the new railhead, forming Julesburg number 3. After the battle of Summit Springs in 1869, the indians quit causing problems in the area, so Fort Sedgwick was declared surplus and closed permanently.


In 1880, the Union Pacfic started a cut off to Denver. It follows the South Platte River diagonally towards the town of LaSalle, where it joins up with Union Pacific's main line out of Cheyenne. The new cut off to Denver was a few miles east of Julesburg number 3. The Union Pacific named the north end of this new cut off "Denver Junction."

When the new line was finished, the townspeople of Julesburg knew that Denver Junction was to be the main town in the region.


So they packed up once again, took over Denver Junction, and renamed it Julesburg. And that is where they are today. And so, as far as we know, they have not decided to move again


So there you have it. And now you know.