Early Wellington businesses spurred growth

By Arlene Ahlbrandt and Wayne Sundberg
Wellington Centennial Committee

Platted in 1903, Wellington's original town site was about 25 acres. One of the first businesses was called "The Little Store," and was erected during the first year, as was Ed Dunkin's Blacksmith Shop.

In the year the town was incorporated, 1905, there were already 400 people living on the town site, and about 30 businesses and residences were being built. The Hotel Wellington was already a going concern, having been built in 1901-02. Fort Collins businessmen, Lewis Secord, along with his partner, Franklin Corbin, opened the hostelry in September 1902, six months before the town was officially laid out.

In a new town, children are important. A one-story school, with two "commodious" rooms, was built in 1903, on north Third Street. In 1905, a second story, with two more rooms, was added--elementary school on the first floor and high school on the second. This created room for nearly 200 students, with 123 in the lower grades, 53 in the middle grades and nine high schoolers! A red brick schoolhouse on the same site replaced it in 1916.

An important business in the town was the newspaper. It published a weekly called "The Wellington," later called "The Wellington Sun." In 1905, the paper reported 288 residents, with a large number of railroad workers living in tents. "The Wellington" had a hard time keeping track of the burgeoning population figures in those early days.

Early businesses included two lumber yards, one mercantile store, a hotel and café, grocery store, meat market, grain elevator, bank, real estate and insurance office, a notary, a barber shop, doctor's office, North Poudre Irrigation Co. offices, a livery stable with barn, harness shop, a shoe repair store, the Miller Building, Jones Hall and a drug store that had a fountain and sold ice cream and sodas.

With new construction in the town, lumber and building supplies were needed. Corbin-Black Lumber Co. of Fort Collins opened, on the corner of First and Main Streets, where they sold hardware, furniture and farm wagons. They built a grain elevator and sold grain and coal. In 1907, the Forest Lumber Co. bought the business; then later Gould Lumber Co. purchased it. Gould Lumber was in business for over 50 years. Al White, the father of Sam and (U.S. Supreme Court Justice) Byron White, worked at the lumberyard. The Gilchrest Lumber Co. was another early supplier of building "necessaries."

One very important business for a young and growing town was a bank. A group of Larimer County business people created $25,000 worth of stock, and on June 20, 1905, chartered the First National Bank of Wellington. Peter Anderson, president of the North Poudre Irrigation Co. and owner of the P. Anderson Mercantile Store in both Fort Collins and Wellington, served as the bank's first president. Two of the directors were officials of the Great Western Sugar Co. in Fort Collins, F. M. Wright and S. E. Miller, along with C. L. Wellington, the town's namesake, who was also the traffic manager for the Colorado and Southern Railroad. The new town had strengthened its economic base tremendously.

John Wich was the son of Bavarian parents who came to Wellington to homestead. When the town was first established, Wich opened a blacksmith and repair shop. He was one of the first people to own a car in Wellington, so he added an auto repair garage. In 1913, he also had a livery stable on Main Street.

Arthur Piatt, a pioneer in the Wellington area, came from Kansas and established several businesses after the town's incorporation. One of the first was Piatt's Mercantile Co. He was also in the banking and real estate business.

Fred and Goldie Hankins came to Wellington from Nebraska in the 1920s. He opened the Hankins Store and remained in business for over 20 years. He sold it in 1949, and the next year he opened a hardware and appliance store. Townspeople could also pay their utility bills there.

Wallens Grocery Store was located in an old bank building. I. H. "Wally" Wallen and his wife, Margaret, owned and operated the small town grocery store in the 1930s. Their daughter, Barbara Lee, and her husband, Wilson Leeper, managed the store for some time. In 1970, he sold the store after 38 years.

William Buffington "Buff" Powers came from Boulder to farm north of Wellington in 1917. His son, Keith Powers, a true native, was born in Wellington in 1923. He served in World War II, married Shirley Keirnes and reared all five of their children in Wellington. Keith Powers was mayor from 1960 to 1972, served on the town board, was a 25-year member of the volunteer fire department, and was very active in church and civic affairs. At age 82, he still resides at his home in Wellington.

The town's original economic base, which relied mainly on agriculture, has now grown to include more diverse businesses and industries. The town continues to prosper and modernize, making Wellington, as the town's slogan states, "a nice place to grow!"

Editor's note: This is the second of a series of articles about Wellington history to commemorate the town's centennial year. Stories will be archived on the Internet at www.northfortynews.com.