Downtown Frisco

Main Street Frisco, CO today

Main Street Frisco 1890

We took a day off from skiing last Saturday and puttered around the town of Frisco. There is a little historical park off Main Street that has become a collection site for some of the town's historic properties. First thing that strikes a New Englander is how YOUNG this town is. Folks were showing up here just about the time the Civil War was heating up. Here are some pictures of the old town Jail.But I was intrigued by this little cottage built in 1931 by the Niemoth family from Denver. It seems that as the area began losing population in post WWI era, the local dairy farmer out at Bill's Ranch came up with a scheme to lure population back to Frisco from the big cities like Denver. He offered families free land on which to build their summer cottages if they would in turn buy milk from his dairy cows. Apparently his plan to bring the market to the milk instead of the milk to the market worked ... for awhile anyway.And I do not wish to be a history geek here, but I was really taken with this ballot from 1896. It seems EVERY party wanted a piece of William Jennings Bryan that year. I guess if you wanted to know the power of free silver in the politics of the day, Frisco, CO was as good a perch as any to view it from.(Note: 6 of the parties on this ballot claimed William Jennings Bryan as their candidate in 1896.)