Location Platteville, Colorado NRHP Reference # 70000169 Area 4,047 m² Phone +1 970-785-2832 Established 1835 | Architectural style Other, adobe fort CSRHP # 5WL.568 Year built 1835 Added to NRHP 30 September 1970 | |
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Architect Works Progress Administration (reconstruction) Address 13412 US-85, Platteville, CO 80651, USA Hours Closed now Tuesday10AM–4PMWednesday10AM–4PMThursday10AM–4PMFriday10AM–4PMSaturday10AM–4PMSunday10AM–4PMMonday10AM–4PM Similar Colorado Historical Society, South Platte Valley Hi, Denver Museum of Nature, St Vrain Historical Society, City of Longmont Longmon | ||
Fort vasquez 2013
Fort Vasquez is a former fur trading post 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Denver, Colorado, United States, founded by Luis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette in 1835. Restored by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, it now lies in a rather incongruous position as U.S. Route 85 splits to run either side of the building. History Colorado (then the Colorado Historical Society) took possession of the property in 1958 and runs it as a museum to display exhibits of the fur-trade era.
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Fort vasquez
History
The present day Fort Vasquez located, literally, on Highway 85, next to Platteville, Colorado is a reconstruction of the adobe trading post established by the trappers Louis Vasquez and Andrew Sublette. They built the fort in 1835 after obtaining a trading license in St. Louis, Missouri, from William Clark, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs. They traded with other furriers, trappers, mountain men, and Native American tribes (including the Arapaho and Cheyenne), amidst competition with other trading posts. Unable to turn a profit, they sold Fort Vasquez to Lock and Randolph in 1840 who subsequently went bankrupt and abandoned the structures in 1842. Due to the bankruptcy, Vasquez and Sublette could not collect the sum owed to them for the sale. The Census of 1880 lists several residents of Vasquez Fork, and it appears to be a mining community. One resident was Othello Reed Ostrander, born 1843 in New York. The census taker lists him as being in Vasquez Fork AND living in Georgetown with his wife and two young sons. He was listed twice. His wife was Isabelle Irene and sons were Arthur and Albert.