AURORA | You can work a little nostalgia and history into your weekend on Saturday for free southeast of Aurora.
Arapahoe County Open Spaces has scheduled a free open house Oct. 17 at the historic 17 Mile House Farm Park and experts are offering guided tours focused on protecting and preserving the Cherry Creek watershed.
The event will feature tours led by the Cherry Creek Stewardship Partners, along with interactive displays and educational materials from local water community organizations. The focus of the tours is to promote local watershed protection efforts and encourage practices that help maintain healthy waterways.
Tours are slated from 10a.m. to 11 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Saturday at 17 Mile House, 8181 S. Parker Road in Centennial.
The event also will include an “interactive river table” that demonstrates floodplain dynamics and displays about water conservation.
The 17 Mile House is a farm dating to the early 1860s that served as a resting stop for pioneers traveling the Cherokee and Smoky Hill wagon trails. Travelers could eat, stay overnight, rest their animals and arrange minor repairs to their wagons and coaches at the mile houses, which were spaced about 3-4 miles apart along the trails from Kansas.
The name 17 Mile House reflects its distance from the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Broadway in Denver. Of the original six mile houses, only 17 Mile House and 4 Mile House remain, according to county officials.
The onset of the railroad connecting Pueblo and Denver in 1882 brought an end to pioneer traffic along the wagon trails and reduced the need for the mile houses.
Families continued to own and farm the 17 Mile House property well into the 20th Century. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and Arapahoe County acquired it in 2001.
Today, the county-designated heritage area includes the restored farmhouse, red barn, silo, milk house, two windmills, 32 acres of open space — and a loafing shed.
A what? That’s farm talk for a three-walled installation with a roof where goats, horses or whatever can just hang when it’s too hot, too rainy or just time to be under a roof for a while.
Event organizers say the event is free but registration is encouraged. Go to www.arapahoeco.gov/17milehouse.
IF YOU GO:
DATE: Oct. 17, 10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.
PLACE: 17 Mile House 8181 S. Parker Road
TICKETS AND DETAILS: Free, www.arapahoeco.gov/17milehouse