The Hayden First Congregational Church
- haydenmuseum
- Nov 5
- 8 min read
By L. Watson
The Museum is happy to see another historic building in Hayden nominated to Routt County Historic Register!
The Hayden Congregational Church located on Hwy 40 in Hayden was built in 1902 through the efforts of the early settlers and town builders of the Hayden Community including the Walkers, the Shelton's and the Peck families to name a few. These same people were also involved in the development of Routt County. The Church has been in continuous operation for over 126 years and the building is a visual reminder of the early settler's faith and community building efforts.
William Walker and his two grown sons, M.P. "Bee" and Sam, first arrived to the Hayden Valley in 1881 from North Carolina. They took up land adjacent to each other and set up homesites and livestock operations including digging an irrigation ditch from the river to their pasturelands to the south before they sent home for their families. William was politically active and served as a Routt County Commissioner from 1882-1884. As more people came to the area, William and his sons saw the need to develop plans for a town settlement. William along with his son in law Sam Donelson, drew up plans for a townsite and filed a plat for the Town of Hayden on January 15, 1894. These town lots paralleled a meandering cow path that William used for moving his cattle to and from his homesite north, near the Yampa River to his pastureland to the south in the Breeze Basin area. Settlers had been using this path as a road through the area calling it Walker Lane. Commercial lots were established on the west side of the lane and a log school was built on the east side of the lane as education was very important to the early settlers.
Ezekiel Shelton was a civil engineer and surveyor by trade and came to Routt County in 1881 to investigate the areas coal beds for some Denver businessmen. By April of 1882 he was so impressed with the Hayden Valley, he took up a homestead and sent for the rest of his family, who were in Ohio, to join him. Ezekiel served as the county surveyor for a number of years surveying over 5000 ranches, ditches and homesites. He was also politically active in the community and served as County Commissioner from 1888-1890. Ezekiel was man of strong Christian conviction as he felt the future of the County rested largely on a strong Christian foundation. He wrote the paper "The Evolution of Christianity in Routt County" in 1906 which he had given as a speech illustrating the importance the early pioneers held in building community through their churches. Ezekiel also served as a United States Commissioner for over 30 years.
Emma Peck and her husband Harry arrived in October of 1883 with their two young sons and took up a homestead along the Yampa River ( referred to as the Bear River) below Hayden. Emma taught school for a number of years in various schools in the Valley including Craig which was then part of Routt County. In 1894 Harry was elected County Superintendent of Schools and served for one year. Emma was elected the following year and served as the County School Superintendent until 1920.
Originally there were only two public buildings in Hayden: The Post Office and the log schoolhouse. Church services were sporadic in those early days and relied on missionary services from the Episcopel and Congregational churches that passed thru the small Town. These services were held at various town members homes or in the log school house. In 1885, a Sunday School was organized. Ezekiel Shelton would sometimes officiate and Emma Peck would provide music as she owned the only organ and would travel with it to various homes where services would be held.
As the Town grew, residents saw the need for a more permanent church. A town meeting was held in which residents met to decide which church they wanted. Residents came from different religious backgrounds so they wanted a church that would meet their diverse needs and beliefs as well as attract new residents moving to the Town to join. It was decided that the Congregational Church would be the best choice. They felt people of different backgrounds and denominations would find it suitable as a church for everyone.
There were 24 charter members of the newly formed Church which adopted the Kansas Manual on August 29, 1899, these included the Walker, Shelton and Peck families as well as the Elmer's, Turner's and Dr. John V. Solandt to name just a few. Reverend J.H. Singleton was selected as the first pastor and Church services were held in the former log schoolhouse that sat empty after the construction of the new Edison School. In 1901, the Church was recognized and received into the Northwestern Association of Congregational Churches at a meeting held in nearby Craig, Co. The Town of Hayden was rapidly growing and so was Church membership. The Church Committee started looking for a more permanent larger sanctuary for both Church services and Sunday School activities. A notice was placed in nearby newspapers by Committee members Ezekiel Shelton and Dr Solandt requesting sealed bids for the building of a Church building. The plans and specifications were noted as being in the hands of B. T. Shelton at the store of J. L. Norvell. In October of 1901the contract to build the building was given to S. J. Fletcher who had recently built the Edison School. The contract for the foundation was given to Matt Gates. The building was advertised to be 35 ft by 50 ft with a lecture room measuring 16 ft by 20 feet. In 1902 M.P. Walker sold the land, Lots 10-13 on Blk 9 of the Walker 1st Addition to Hayden, to the Colorado Congregational Association for $1.00. The final Construction cost for the building was $15,000 and the newly finished building was dedicated on May 24, 1903. Mrs Emma Peck gave the history of the Church at the dedication ceremony. The large stained glass window at the end of the sanctuary was given by the members of the Churches youth group- Christian Endeavor. The large "S" in the window design may have been given in memory of the first ministers wife, Carrie Singleton, who had been involved with the group and had died in 1901 of blood poisoning while her husband was minister.
The Church had a number of ministers that passed through its pulpit over the years including the noted Kate Haus who came to the Hayden Church as a Sunday School Missionary. She was the first minister ordained at the Hayden Church. This was an uncommon tile for a woman in Colorado at that time. She served as Hayden's minister from 1908-1909 and went on to organize other churches throughout the State serving as minister at Eastlake, Englewood and Denver.
The building became an important gathering place for the Town of Hayden and other Church Organizations such as the Women's Association who organized charity work and community events. The first Hayden High School Graduation, which consisted of four graduating student, was held at the Church in May of 1909. A variety of community organizations have used the building over the years such as the Eastern Star, Farm Bureau, local elections, a quilting group, as well as Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.
In 1930, the Women's Association with volunteers undertook an 8ft by 16 ft floor addition at the northwest corner of the Church. This addition was to be a kitchen for church functions and help with Sunday School.
In 1938 the Church had repairs completed which included removing the wood shingles and replacing with a tin roof. The windows on the steeple were closed off to prevent birds from nesting in the steeple.
In 1940 it was decided to build a Parish Hall as an extension off the original building on the north side. This addition was 35 ft wide by 45 ft long. This doubled the kitchen and added space for Sunday School and social activities and included a new Church entrance.
The Youberg family donated the Church bell in 1958 in memory of local Hi Smith. This bell had formerly been in the Mt Harris Community Church at the nearby company owned townsite of Mt Harris. The coal mines at Mt Harris at recently closed and the company auctioned off all of the Towns buildings and machinery.
A second floor was added to the Parish Hall in 1974. This added three classrooms for Sunday School. It was at this time in 1976 that the steeple was detached and relocated due to constant roof leakage problems due to ice buildup in the winter.
Fifteen stained glass windows were added in the 1970's to the entry and Parish Hall. These were created by Steamboat artist Glee Wescott Stevens and were installed in five sections with each containing a set of three windows given in memory of former Church members.
In 1988 siding was put on the Church for maintenance purposes.
Throughout the years the Congregational Church has been a gathering place for Hayden and continues to serve the community. It is a visual reminder of our pioneer past and the spirit of community that the early pioneer families held dear.
Bibliography
Breshears, Alice H. "Hayden Congregational Church," in History of Hayden and West Routt County 1876-1989, ed. by Pat Holderness. Curtis Media Corp., 1990.
Cobb, Rose. "Walker, William R. and Angeline Burch," in History of Hayden and West Routt County 1876- 1989, ed. by Pat Holderness. Curtis Media Corp.,1990.
"Dedicatory Service," The Routt County Sentinel (Steamboat Springs, CO), May 29, 1903. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
Green, Jerry, "Peck, Harry B. and Emma Hull," in History of West Routt County Colorado, ed. by Pat Holderness, Curtis Media Corp., 1994.
"Hayden Congregational United Church of Christ 120th Anniversary 1899-2019." In Hayden Museum Collections, August 2019.
"Hayden Happenings." The Craig Courier (Craig, CO) December 7, 190I. https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
"History of the Church," Steamboat Pilot (Steamboat Co), June 3, 1903, https://www.Coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
Hopkins, Walter S. and Virginia Greene Millikin. "The Bible and the Gold Rush: A Century of Congregationalism in Colorado 1863-1963." Big Mountain Press, Denver, 1962.
Kaminski, Jan M. Historic Resource Survey/: Architectural Survey Report: Town of Hayden. Steamboat Springs CO, 2009.
Leslie, Jan. "Hayden Congregational Church," Binder: East Jefferson, at The Leslie Memorial Research Library in the Hayden Heritage Center Museum.
"News from Hayden," The Steamboat Pilot (Steamboat CO), October 23 190I. http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
"Notice to Contractors." The Craig Courier (Craig, CO), June I, 190I. http://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
Peck, Emma. "History of the Church 1899-1903," Steamboat Pilot (Steamboat, CO) June 3, 1903.
"Repairing the Church." The Routt County Republican (Hayden, CO), February 14, 1938, https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
Routt County General Index Grantee Book 3 pg 33; Warranty Deed, July 15, 1902.
Shelton, Ezechiel. "The Evolution of Christianity in Routt County, Colorado." paper read at The Northwestern Association of Congregational Churches, Clark, Co, 1906 in Hayden Museum Collections.
Temple, Robert S. "Shelton, Ezekiel and Mary Entriken." in History of Hayden and West Routt County 1876-1989, ed. by Pat Holderness. Curtis Media Corp., 1990.
Routt County Warranty Deed Book 3.
"Women Offer to Build Addition to Church." The Routt County Republican (Hayden, CO) November 21, 1930, https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org.
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