Mead History

I can remember the founding of the little town of Mead, Colorado in 1906, on one corner of the farm. The Great Western Sugar company was putting in a railroad for the transporting beets to the sugar mill, and had located a beet dump where the tracks cut across a corner of the farm. With all of the farmers coming there with their crops, it seemed the logical site for a town, and Mead, the logical name for it, as the land had been originally homesteaded by Grandpa Mead (Dr. Martin Luther Mead MD). Mother and father laid out the plans for the town, named the streets, and were active in developing the new community, as they had been in the older one (Highlandlake).They wanted it to be a good town, with no "evil element," and had it stipulated in the titles to all of the lots that they sold, that liquor was not to be sold on any of the property, ever. Remembrance of Things Past - by Myra Imogene (Mead) Cope. May 15, 1969.

Histories & Biographies

You can find an index here for some of the histories, letters, and biographies that we have in our collection concerning early residents, families, and stories about Mead's early days. Click here

Historic Town Government

The first town board meeting was held at Dalgetty's, believed to be a dry goods store. Some claim it was the local Pool Hall and barber shop, on 13 April 1908. C. V. Holmes was elected Chairman Pro-Tem and I. F. Hays, Clerk Pro-Tem. Read More

Early Businesses

For nearly 30 years, Mead was a bustling community. At its peak, Mead had three general stores, a hotel, a combination grocery store and meat market, two saloons, butcher shop, filling station, two auto garages, Read more about early Mead Businesses here.

School Days

Mead's first school was built just north of what is now the Mead Town Hall and fire station. It was located on WCR 7, and was a two room wood-framed building. One of the rooms originally was part of the Highlandlake School, but with two schools within walking distance of each other, The Highlandlake school no longer needed the extra room. More coming soon.

Law and Order

In the early days of Mead, crime was a rarity. Most of the people who spent time in the jail house did so for public drunkenness or for bar fights. More here

Newspapers

The longest running newspaper, "The Mead Messenger," was published from 1907-1927. Click here for a little history of the local Mead newspapers and read a few excerpts from some of them.

Post Office History

Mead's Post Office has a long history of serving the town. Click here for a brief history.


Ephemera and Photos

Hidden deep in our archives is a growing collection of artifacts, ephemera, and other interesting items. Coming Soon!

Mead Government Today

Today Mead is growing and the future is bright for this little historic town. To go to their official website you can click here. (offsite)


Copyrighted 2015-2016, Historic Highlandlake Inc. All rights reserved. Photos may be used for personal research only and may not be reproduced for profit, commercial or otherwise, without written permission. Most photos are available for purchase. Contact us here.