People & Places Colorado History Series at Erie Community Library

Established on May 5, 1910, by a young entrepreneur named Oliver Toussaint Jackson, Dearfield served as an agricultural colony for Black Coloradoans about twenty-five miles southeast of Greeley. For two decades nearly 700 Black families worked to transform the rolling desert hills into a thriving farm community. The Great Depression and a major drought drove most of these farmers away, leaving only Jackson and his niece by the 1940s. Today Dearfield is a ghost town with only a handful of buildings remaining, but the Black American West Museum and other groups are working to improve preservation and historical interpretation at the site.

Join us for an overview of the history of Dearfield and current efforts to preserve the site for future generations.

Presenter: William “Bill” Garcia, former Weld County Commissioner, local attorney and passionate advocate for the preservation of Dearfield.